Steelers, as expected, left out of NFL awarding of compensatory draft picks

The Pittsburgh Steelers learned Thursday, as expected, they won’t be making any extra picks in next month’s draft.

The NFL announced the addition of 37 draft choices for the April 27-29 event in Kansas City, and the Steelers weren’t one of the 16 teams that made the cut.

Thirty of the awarded picks were the result of the compensatory system the league uses tied to unrestricted free agency, and the Steelers were — for them — unusually active in last spring’s free-agent market.

The league on Thursday also formally announced five draft picks awarded as part of a 2020 expansion of the Rooney Rule that rewards teams that have a minority hired off their staff to a head coach or general manager position with another team. The San Francisco 49ers received three extra picks that way, and the Kansas City Chiefs and Cleveland Browns got an extra selection each.

The 49ers essentially earned an entirely new draft via compensatory picks — they also tied for the league in free-agent picks earned with four. The Los Angeles Rams also got four extra picks, and the Arizona Cardinals and Dallas Cowboys were awarded three.

No AFC North teams received a compensatory selection via the free agency formula, a rarity in that the Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals and Steelers rank among the top nine in the NFL in picks earned over the 30 years of free agency.

Because the CBA mandates at least 32 compensatory picks be given out as the result of free agency, the teams with the worst two records last season (the Chicago Bears and Houston Texans) each also got an extra pick.

The Steelers have seven traditional draft picks — one each in the first, third and fourth rounds and two apiece in the second and seventh rounds.

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