The 2026 NFL Draft will award compensatory picks to teams that lost top free agents from last year’s class. That includes the New York Jets, who allowed Morgan Moses to sign a four-year, $24 million contract with the AFC East rival New England Patriots.

The Jets received a fifth-round pick for letting Moses walk. That is now the number 179 overall pick in the draft.

The Jets traded the pick as part of their first-round trade up for Omar Cooper at 30 overall.

In his twelfth NFL season, Moses arguably had his best year yet with the Patriots. He started all 17 games for the Patriots, leading them to an appearance in Super Bowl LX, where they lost to the Seattle Seahawks and their “Dark Side” defense.

While the Jets have a new fifth-round pick to work with, this may have been a move the team ends up regretting. Not only did the Jets let a strong veteran player walk, but they gave him to a division rival that needed him to get to the next level. Moses still has two years left on his contract, and even though he turned 35 last month, he still has potential for some strong football ahead of him with the Patriots.

Compensatory picks are awarded to teams that suffer a net loss of qualifying free agents during the previous year’s free agency period. So 2026 NFL Draft compensatory picks are awarded due to free agents lost in 2025.

Then those players are ranked on the amount of salary, playing time, and a bunch of other criteria and slotted into the end of rounds three through seven.