(NOTE: The following has been edited to reflect the exchange of picks in the trade of Shaq Mason to Houston on Wednesday, March 15.)
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have known they'll be picking 19th in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft since they were knocked out of the 2022 playoffs by the Dallas Cowboys. Now they also know they'll be picking 252nd overall, and at seven other spots in between.
The NFL announced its annual list of compensatory picks on Thursday, and not only did that increase the Buccaneers' draft capital by two selections but it also finalized the entire order of the seven rounds, from number one to number 259.
Tampa Bay has its own picks in the first, second, third, fifth and sixth rounds. On March 15, the Buccaneers picked up the Texans' sixth-round pick in a trade that sent guard Shaq Mason to Houston along with a seventh-round pick. They will now pick three times in the sixth round, occupying two of first four spots in that stanza, and once in the seventh, as they also own the Indianapolis Colts' selection in Round Six and a compensatory pick in Round Seven. The Bucs previously traded away their own picks in the fourth and seventh rounds. Here's the full list of the Buccaneers' nine 2023 draft picks, listed by round, pick in round and overall number of the selection:
- Round One, Pick 19, 19th Overall
- Round Two, Pick 19, 50th Overall
- Round Three, Pick 19, 82nd Overall
- Round Five, Pick 19, 153rd Overall
- Round Five, Pick 41, 175th Overall*
- Round Six, Pick 2, 179th Overall~
- Round Six, Pick 4, 181st Overall^
- Round Six, Pick 19, 196th Overall
- Round Seven, Pick 35, 252nd Overall*
* Compensatory pick
~ From the Houston Texans
^ From the Indianapolis Colts
+ From the New York Jets
Obviously, trades could affect the final order of where the Bucs pick on the weekend of April 27-29. However, if those nine picks turn into at least nine new Buccaneers it would mark the team's largest draft class since 2010, which was headlined by Gerald McCoy.
The two compensatory picks awarded to the Buccaneers on Thursday were the result of a net loss in free agency last year. Tampa Bay lost there qualifying free agents in 2022 in guard Alex Cappa, tight end O.J. Howard and safety Jordan Whitehead and only added one in wide receiver Russell Gage.
The overall draft order was also affected on Thursday by the NFL's decision to fine the Houston Texans and dock them a fifth-round pick due to a salary cap violation. That pick would have been the second one in the round, number 137 overall.
