Report: NFL to allow compensatory picks to be traded in 2017, not 2016

NFL owners have reportedly voted to allow compensatory picks to be traded, but the rule change won't take effect until 2017, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.

It was expected that the change would take place, but it was assumed that the NFL would allow teams to begin trading their picks in the 2016 offseason.

Compensatory picks have previously been off limits to teams when it comes to making trades, so while the change should bring about a new dynamic when it comes to negotiations between NFL teams, they'll have to wait an extra year in order to do so.

The NFL awards compensatory picks based upon the players a team signed and lost during free agency, with values assigned to salary, playing time, and postseason success in order to determine how many picks a team should be awarded.

The maximum amount of picks a team can be awarded is four, meaning teams could have substantially more draft capital to work with when it comes to making trades.

Last season, the league awarded 32 compensatory picks ahead of the 2014 NFL Draft.