Compensatory Picks -- Can someone explain the justification?

Why are compensatory picks awarded? Is there a formula for deciding who gets the picks and which picks they get? I know the rules read:
Under the rules for compensatory draft selections, a team losing more or better compensatory free agents than it acquires in the previous year is eligible to receive compensatory draft picks.
However, what metrics decide what you're losing versus what you're gaining. At best this system is unreliable.

I guess I feel like the salary cap evens out the playing field. Big money teams have no advantage in free agency over small teams. If you lose a big player due to salary cap restrictions, you shouldn't get an extra pick -- you had the same opportunity as anyone else.

Can someone explain WHY the league has, and needs, compensatory picks. Also, why didn't we get any for losing a pro-bowl LB while gaining some okay starters via FA, but no real studs.

Edit: Link to the article the quote is from.
NFL announces 32 compensatory draft choices to 15 teams | ProFootballTalk (http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/03/26/nfl-announces-32-compensatory-draft-choices-to-15-teams/)

I doubt we get one for Carlos Rogers but we should.

Why are compensatory picks awarded? Is there a formula for deciding who gets the picks and which picks they get? I know the rules read:
Under the rules for compensatory draft selections, a team losing more or better compensatory free agents than it acquires in the previous year is eligible to receive compensatory draft picks.
However, what metrics decide what you're losing versus what you're gaining. At best this system is unreliable.

I guess I feel like the salary cap evens out the playing field. Big money teams have no advantage in free agency over small teams. If you lose a big player due to salary cap restrictions, you shouldn't get an extra pick -- you had the same opportunity as anyone else.

Can someone explain WHY the league has, and needs, compensatory picks. Also, why didn't we get any for losing a pro-bowl LB while gaining some okay starters via FA, but no real studs.
Who was the pro bowl LB?

From Ralph Vacchiano on Twitter:

Ralph Vacchiano ‏ @TheBlueScreen
Comp picks are awarded to teams whose free-agent losses the previous year are greater than their FA gains. Value formula is complicated.

I doubt we get one for Carlos Rogers but we should.
We won't get any this year or next. Last year we brought in way more free agents than we lost.

Who was the pro bowl LB?




Antonio Pierce.

Meant CB, not LB. My apologies

(Carlos Rogers)

Antonio Pierce.
Why are we talking about that year. We may have, but we usually dominated free agency. We got a third round draft choice for Dockery. We got a seventh round draft choice the year Shannahan came in, I think.

i've linked to a different forum where a guy predicts comp picks weeks or a month ahead of time with 98% accuracy or so. you'd have to search for the old comp picks threads.

basically a bunch of nfl guys get in a room and figure it out, there's not really a formula as much as guidelines.

basically FA losses vs FA gains (taking into account # of starts, post season awards, CONTRACT VALUE, etc).

If you lose a pro bowl player and don't sign anyone, that's basically a 3rd round pick (well, high 4th round pick). if you lose someone and sign an FA starter as equal value, you might get a 7th or might not. everything else is in between.

NE, PHI, and BAL tend to get a ton of comp picks every year, since (usually) they sign cheap FAs and draft a ton of players.

So it seems that the Raiders got a 3rd rounder for Nnamdi.