Why May 7 is a big day for Ndamukong Suh and other NFL free agents

There are still a number of big-name NFL free agents on the market, but there's one reason they'll have to wait a little longer for a (...)

The smartest NFL teams all share one overarching philosophy that, in a way, influences nearly every roster decision they make: The key to building a Super Bowl roster in the today’s NFL is drafting well, and because the draft is a crapshoot, the best way to draft well is to accrue as many draft picks as possible.

The easiest way to add draft picks is to play the compensatory pick game, which successful teams like the Eagles and Patriots have committed to doing over the last two decades. And after the NFL allowed teams to start trading draft picks, their efforts to earn comp picks have only increased.

Teams are awarded comp picks based on a proprietary formula that calculates how much a team has added or gained in free agency (the 32 picks added to the upcoming draft were awarded in February based on last year’s free agent signings). The league then awards picks, which come at the end of the third through seventh rounds, to the teams that have lost the most. If it sounds complicated, that’s because it is. Fortunately, OverTheCap.com has an easy-to-understand guide to the system.

Deadspin’s Dom Cosentino wrote a fantastic breakdown of how teams are playing the comp pick game in increasingly creative ways — and one of the ways of doing it is to wait until after May 7, when free agents signed are no longer factored into the comp pick formula, to add veteran players, which is why big-name players like Ndamukong Suh, Ziggy Ansah and Morris Claiborne are still on the market.

Those players could be vital pieces for contenders, but those contenders are teams who have become adept at playing the comp pick game and won’t be interested in players who could cost them an extra draft pick.

The Patriots have almost created their own secondary free agent market. Instead of chasing players on the open market, they look around the league for expendable veteran players and offer Day 3 draft picks in exchange for them. That’s how they ended up with players like Michael Bennett, Kyle Van Noy and Jason McCourty — impact players who cost New England nothing and do not affect their compensatory pick formula.

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The Eagles have used similar tactics. They traded a pick for Golden Tate knowing that if he didn’t make the impact they expected (which he didn’t) they could let him walk this offseason and add to their ever-growing cache of comp picks. Philly stayed out of free agency this offseason but still managed to add key pieces. Malik Jackson was brought in after he was cut by Jacksonville, meaning he won’t be included in the comp pick formula. The Eagles also traded Day 3 picks for both DeSean Jackson and Jordan Howard. That’s three Pro Bowl-level players the Eagles have added without impacting their compensatory picks.

(Philadelphia did sign Vikings castoff Andrew Sendejo, who will count toward their comp pick formula — unless they cut him before Week 10, that is. If the veteran safety isn’t making an impact, it’s unlikely he’ll be on the roster in Week 11.)

As we get closer to May 7, after the compensatory free agent period ends and teams have made their draft picks, the contenders who routinely play the comp pick game could re-enter the free agent market looking for pieces that could make the difference in January, as Suh nearly did for the Rams during their postseason run … after signing a one-year deal that did not affect Los Angeles’ comp pick formula. The comp pick game never ends.