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Every year at the Annual League Meetings (usually on the second day), the NFL announces the 32 compensatory picks that will be handed out to teams. I would expect that to take place on Monday, March 24 this season. Are the Browns projected to receive any compensatory picks for 2014? As it stands right now,the answer is, "no."
The basic formula to start with (before looking at contracts) is to look at which free agents were lost and gained during the previous offseason. These have to be players who became unrestricted free agents, not players who were cut.
The players we lost needed to stick with the other team for most of the season -- for example, that is why WR Mohamed Massaquoi does not appear on the list below. S Ray Ventrone does not appear in the "players lost" category because he only made the veteran minimum with his salary. WR Joshua Cribbs was not with a club during the normal free agency period.
Players Lost (4)
-TE Alex Smith (1 year, $905,000)
-TE Benjamin Watson (3 years, $4.95 million)
-LB Kaluka Maiava (3 years, $6 million)
-K Phil Dawson (1 year, $2.35 million)
Players Signed (6)
-QB Jason Campbell (2 years, $3.75 million)
-TE Gary Barnidge (3 years, 3.75 million)
-DE Desmond Bryant (5 years, $34 million)
-OLB Paul Kruger (5 years, $40.5 million)
-OLB Quentin Groves (2 years, $2.4 million)
-CB Chris Owens (1 year, $1 million)
If the Browns had lost more players than they had signed, they would receive a compensatory selection. Because they signed two players and lost two players, they won't get anything (there is an exception, but you'd have to have lost big-time players and signed scrubs).
There is still a slight chance that Cleveland could be awarded a seventh-round compensatory pick by default. The NFL has a mandatory policy that they must hand out 32 compensatory picks each year. If the free agent formulas for other teams only end up awarding 26 picks, for example, then the remaining picks are doled out based on the order of the first round of the NFL Draft. The Browns pick fourth, so in that scenario, the Browns would get a seventh-round compensatory pick. Based on analysis from Jimmy Kempski of Philly.com, it looks like the NFL might be handing out 32 picks, which means Cleveland gets nothing.
Jimmy's analysis says that the Ravens losing Kruger last year will help get them a fourth-round pick this year, and that the Falcons losing Owens will help them get a seventh-round pick this year.