With the New York Jets hiring Aaron Glenn to be their next head coach, the Detroit Lions will receive two extra draft picks, thanks to a 2020 amendment to the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement as it relates to the Rooney Rule.
The Lions get third-round draft picks in the 2025 and 2026 drafts under a rule that stipulates that if a team lost a minority executive or coach to another team, that team receives compensatory picks. The 5-year-old rule was put in place to reward teams that develop minority coaches and front office personnel who go on to become head coaches or general managers. For example, when the Lions hired current general manager Brad Holmes from the Los Angeles Rams, the Rams received compensatory third-round picks in the 2021 and 2022 NFL drafts.
The Rams and San Francisco 49ers each had compensatory picks in the 2024 draft for losing Raheem Morris (current Atlanta Falcons head coach) and Ran Carthon (former Tennessee Titans GM), respectively. The Rams and 49ers will have additional compensatory picks in the 2025 draft as well.
For Glenn, the Jets job represents his first head coaching gig. Glenn, who played as a defensive back, was a first-round draft pick by the Jets in 1994. He went on to play 15 NFL seasons with six different teams and was a three-time Pro Bowl selection. Glenn, who started his NFL coaching career in 2014 as an assistant defensive backs coach, was the Lions’ defensive coordinator for the previous four seasons.
What are compensatory draft picks?
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Compensatory draft picks also are presented to teams that lose minority assistant coaches or front office personnel to head coaching or general manager positions with other teams.
The compensatory selections are placed at the bottom of Rounds 3-7 and a total of 32 selections are presented. The announcement of the compensatory picks for the 2025 NFL draft will come in March.
According to Over The Cap, the 49ers, Lions and Rams will receive compensatory picks for minority hirings in 2025, while the Minnesota Vikings (Kirk Cousins) and Miami Dolphins (Robert Hunt) are projected to receive compensatory selections for free-agent losses.
What is the Rooney Rule?
In 2003, the NFL adopted a rule that each team must interview at least one minority candidate prior to selecting a new head coach. The rule was named for late Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney, who led the league’s diversity committee.
The Rooney Rule has evolved over time, with the aforementioned 2020 addition to reward teams for developing minority head coaching and general manager talent. In 2021, the league required every team to interview at least two external minority candidates for open head coaching and general manager positions and at least one external minority candidate for a coordinator position. The rule also was expanded to assure at least one minority and/or female candidate be interviewed for senior level front office positions.
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