“Tom Brady Was a Compensatory Pick”: Pablo Torre Opens Up About NFL’s ‘Secret Rankings’

By now, you know Tom Brady’s NFL story. He entered the league as the No. 199 pick in the 2000 NFL Draft. Brady made his first start after Drew Bledsoe absorbed a bone-crunching hit from Mo Lewis in 2001. From there, the NFL GOAT led the New England Patriots to three Super Bowl victories in four seasons. He eventually established himself as the greatest player in NFL history.

Brady, a sixth-round selection, is a beacon of hope to every late-round choice each season. They know they probably won’t reach his heights, but he’s evidence that they can become a star without the glory of first-round status. He also demonstrates how important connecting on compensatory picks can be for a franchise.

Pablo Torre dove into Brady’s history – and the history of compensatory picks – on The Rich Eisen Show. He revealed the Pats were only able to nab Brady when they did because of the compensatory pick formula.

“Tom Brady was a compensatory pick. And the compensatory pick is a blackbox that is so fascinating… the NFL league office has a secret ranking every year of every player in the league according to value… depending on how good [a] player is, if they were to leave as a free agent and succeed… you get a compensatory draft pick in return,” Pablo Torre explained.

Torre classified the league’s list as a “secret fantasy football power ranking.” There are at least 32 compensatory picks award each year, spread throughout Round 3-7. This year’s best compensatory pick (No. 97 overall) went to the Minnesota Vikings, presumably because Kirk Cousins ($45 million salary) signed the largest contract of the 2024 offseason.

Pablo Torre details Tom Brady’s compensatory pick origins

As Torre alluded to, compensatory picks aren’t just awarded willy nilly. The league has a complex formula that determines who gets what selection. This formula is not available to the public, but outlets have gotten fairly good at projecting which compensatory picks will go to certain teams.

Last September, Torre – on his show Pablo Torre Finds Out – made it his mission to determine which team, and which player, was responsible for New England landing the No. 199 pick in the 2000 NFL Draft. It took immense dedication and some covert conversations for him to get his answer.

“There were three candidates for [the No. 199 pick]… I confirmed this with the league office itself. The NFL confirmed it. I confirmed it through a voice modulated NFL executive who explained how all of this stuff works… [the] New York Jets are entirely responsible for why Tom Brady got picked by the Patriots… you did it to yourself,” Torre further added.

Additionally, he revealed that New England’s loss of Tom Tupa, a 16-year NFL veteran, brought them the No. 199 selection. Tupa played quarterback and punter in the NFL. He left the Patriots for the Jets in the 1998 offseason.

With New York in 1999, Tupa earned his only career Pro Bowl nod and first-team All-Pro honor. He became notorious for entering the Jets’ Week 1 contest at quarterback for an injured Vinny Testaverde. In that contest – which, ironically, was against the Patriots – he threw for 165 yards and two touchdowns.

Tupa got the highlight and memory, but New England got everything else. They won the game 30-28, then got Brady and six Super Bowl rings. Even if they were torched through the air by a punter, that’s an outcome the Patriots would take every time.