The next Tom Brady might have been awarded today. Yes, back in 2000, Brady was a sixth-round pick of the Patriots, a pick they did not own when the offseason began that year.

Each year since 1994, the NFL has awarded compensatory picks to teams that had net losses in free agency the year before as another form of competitive rebalancing. For the past decade, there have been 32 additional picks awarded each draft, picks that are tacked onto the ends of rounds three, four, five six and seven.

You could field a pretty solid team from the 320 compensatory choices over the past decade. Players such as Pierre Garcon, Marques Colston, Josh Sitton, Ahmad Bradshaw, Antoine Bethea, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Yeremiah Bell have come out of this pool. And though a quick scan down the list of players in recent years might not boggle the mind as far as stardom is concerned, don't overlook the significance of these additional choices to teams' overall draft strategies.

The formula for determining which teams get the picks is not released by the NFL, but teams that sign fewer free agents than they lost are eligible to earn picks. Then the league factors in the quality of the free agents the team has lost, the statistical impact in the first season a player has on his new team, postseason awards and the contracts those players signed. The latter, financial element was factored in to prevent a team from not being compensated if it lost a major free-agent star who did not play the following season because of injury.

Some teams factor in this net loss when they allow free agents to walk. The Ravens (23) and Patriots (19), for instance, are two of the teams with the most compensatory picks since 2001, and it's no coincidence that those two teams are known for two things: financial responsibility in the free-agent market and good drafting.

The Ravens have added players such as RB Chester Taylor, FB Ovie Mughelli, OT Tony Pashos, QB Derek Anderson, P Sam Koch, RB Le'Ron McClain and S Haruki Nakamura in that time. The Patriots have been less successful with their compensatory picks but were able to draft OT Nick Kaczur and rotational DL Myron Pryor and Brandon Deaderick. They also took C Ted Larsen last year, and though he was cut in camp, he went on to start 11 games as a rookie with the Bucs.

Of course, sometimes it's not just about the extra picks but the flexibility they allow. Although compensatory picks cannot by rule be traded, it allows teams the freedom to move other picks with more comfort.

"They can be a bonus," one pro personnel director said. "You have a pretty good idea what (picks) you might get, and when you get them, you can be more open to trading other picks and manipulating the draft. You factor that in when you (make trades)."

Having those picks can lead to making successful picks elsewhere. But it also can lead teams to take more risks with the compensatory choices.

"I have seen it," the director said. "I have seen teams take the so-called risk-reward guys in those slots. Maurice Clarett was (a compensatory pick). So was (Bengals RB) Bernard Scott, whom we didn't have on our board because of character (concerns)."

Some teams barely have had a taste of these extra choices. The Browns (one compensatory pick since 2001), Saints (two), Texans (three; their first draft was in '02) and Chiefs and Cardinals (four picks apiece) have had the fewest in recent years. And other than the Saints' success in the 2006 and 2009 seasons, it's perhaps no surprise that these teams have not been perennial winners in the past decade.

Friday, the league announced those picks for April's draft, and only one third-rounder was awarded — to the Panthers for losing DE Julius Peppers. Considering the Panthers are missing their second-round pick (No. 33 overall) because of a horrible Draft Day trade with the Patriots last year, don't think they weren't counting on this selection. It might bring them a rookie starter. There were only two picks each awarded in Round Four (Titans and Packers) and Round Five (both to the Ravens).

Last year was overall a slow year for big free-agent movement because of the uncertainty surrounding the labor situation. From 2001 to '10, there had been an average of 2.8 compensatory picks in Round Three, 4.1 in Round Four, 4.0 in Round Five, 6.2 in Round Six and 14.9 in Round Seven, so Mr. Irrelevant is a compensatory pick every year. Two years ago the Chiefs did themselves pretty well by landing a good kicker in Ryan Succop with the final pick of the draft. If executed well, these are not throwaway picks.

The next Brady could be ready to be taken with one of these choices this year.

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Following is a breakdown of the compensatory selections for the past 10 years: