The New Orleans Saints have been awarded three compensatory picks in this year's NFL Draft, which is scheduled to be held April 29-May 1 in Cleveland.
The Saints, who currently have the No. 28 overall pick in the first round after posting a 12-4 regular-season record in 2020 and winning the NFC South Division title for the fourth consecutive season, will add two third-round picks and a sixth-round selection to their 2021 draft class.
The first third-round pick, which is slotted to fall at No. 98 overall (the 35th pick in the round), is compensation the Saints received after losing quarterback Teddy Bridgewater as an unrestricted free agent. Bridgewater started five games in 2019, and New Orleans went 5-0 in them, when Drew Brees was injured.
The second third-round pick, to fall at number No. 105 overall (the 42nd pick in the round), is compensation for the loss of Pro Personnel Director Terry Fontenot, who was hired by Atlanta to be its general manager. The NFL added a feature to compensate franchises who develop minority coaches and front office executives that go on to become head coaches and general managers for other teams.
Teams that lose a minority coach or executive to a head coach or general manager job with another team will receive a third-round compensatory pick for two consecutive years. If a team loses a minority coach and an executive to head coach and general manager jobs, it will receive a third-round compensatory pick for three consecutive years.
The sixth-round pick, to fall at No. 217 overall (the 33rd pick in the round), is compensation for the loss of linebacker A.J. Klein as a free agent. Klein started all 15 regular-season games he played in 2019 for the Saints and played in 16 games for the Buffalo Bills in 2020.
