Why the Patriots and Rams had to change the terms of trade Sony Michel

When news broke that the New England Patriots had traded running back Sony Michel to the Los Angeles Rams, the original reports had the compensation in the form of two conditional end-round selections in the 2022 NFL Draft. Conditions were also added later, with New England transport depending on the Rams’ compensatory draft picks next spring.

If LA got a clearing pick in the fourth round – the one the team were to receive after losing safety John Johnson to the Cleveland Browns in free agency – then that pick would be transferred to the Patriots. Otherwise, New England would receive fifth and sixth round picks in exchange for Michel.

Although the structure is complex, it seemed quite simple. However, when the exchange was officially announced, its terms read as follows:

TRADES OF NEW ENGLAND:
Michel, Sony RB Georgia

LOS ANGELES ROW TRADE:
Selection choice – Round 6, 2022
Selection choice – Round 4, 2023

Instead of getting a fourth-round pick in 2022 or fifth and sixth round picks the same year, the Patriots ended up receiving a sixth and fourth round the following year. So what happened?

According to Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic, the original terms of the contract violated league rules: A recent change in NFL policy now prohibits teams from trading conditional compensatory picks in this way. Since all moves must be approved by the league, the Patriots and Rams were forced to change the terms and come up with a different, more conventional pay structure.

Compensatory draft picks in general can be and have been traded, so it’s not clear why the NFL decided to change the rules. A reasonable expectation is that the league doesn’t want draft picks that haven’t yet been awarded to be traded.

Unlike “normal” draft picks which are distributed the same way each year, compensatory picks are only awarded after one season to reflect the status of lost qualified free agents per team. For the moment, the Josh Johnson compensatory selection therefore only exists in theory. It’s plausible that the NFL doesn’t want its teams dealing with notional draft capital.

Looking ahead to 2022, that means New England now has the following draft picks:

• Round 1
• 2nd round
• Round 3
• Round 4
• Round 6
• Round 6 (via Los Angeles as part of the Sony Michel trade)
• Round 7 (via Las Vegas as part of the Trent Brown trade)
• Round 7 (via Houston as part of the Ryan Izzo trade)

As for the 2023 draft, the Patriots now have each-round picks plus an additional fourth-round pick acquired through trading Michel.