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Report: NFL will allow teams to trade 2017 compensatory picks

Adam Hunger / USA TODAY Sports

The NFL is now allowing franchises to trade future compensatory picks, Field Yates of ESPN reports.

While teams cannot trade the compensatory picks they've already been awarded for the 2016 draft, they can now begin including stipulations in trade language that will allow movement of future picks.

Compensatory picks are given to teams that lose free agents and are tacked on to the end of draft rounds in order to mitigate a team's loss of value. For instance, the Detroit Lions were awarded a pick at the end of the third round as compensation for losing defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh during free agency in 2015.

Per the league's release:

"For example, if a club trades its 2017 fifth-round selection, the trade may include the following condition: If the club is awarded a fourth-round compensatory selection in 2017, the club will trade the 2017 fourth-round compensatory selection in lieu of the 2017 fifth-round selection. If the club is awarded multiple 2017 fourth-round compensatory selections, it will trade the compensatory selection that is closest to the end of the round."

As of the 2017 league year, teams will be allowed to trade the compensatory picks they've been awarded leading up to the draft.

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