As the Kansas City Chiefs ponder which of their own free agents to re-sign — and which players from other teams to pursue — the NFL’s formula for compensating teams for free-agent losses may be under consideration.
Though the league has never made its exact formula public, teams are awarded compensatory draft picks when the number of qualifying free agents a particular team lost in the previous offseason is greater than the number it signed. Players qualify based on their average earnings per year and playing time with their new team. Players released by their former teams — such as now-former Chiefs linebacker Anthony Hitchens — do not factor into the formula.