The New York Jets were awarded a third-round compensatory pick in the upcoming draft, the NFL announced Friday. That's important for two reasons, including the obvious: They need all the help they can get.

The other reason: For the first time, teams are allowed to trade compensatory picks. It means that third-round pick (107 overall) is currency. With an extra bargaining chip at his disposal, general manager Mike Maccagnan can use the choice to trade for a player (a quarterback, anyone?) or use it to move up in the draft.

The 107th pick alone isn't enough to get the Jets from sixth to fifth in the first round, based on the draft value chart used by many teams, but it could get them from 39th (second round) to 32nd (bottom of the first).

If the Jets packaged their two third-round picks to move up in the first round, they'd probably be able to jump up to fourth. The point is, compensatory picks have added value this year, and the Jets should have more flexibility than usual.

Right now, they have seven selections, including one pick in the first, second, fifth, sixth and seventh rounds, plus two in the third. They don't have a fourth-rounder because they traded it during last year's draft for Brandon Shell.

A total of 32 compensatory picks were awarded to 16 teams, including nine picks in the third round. The NFL uses a complicated formula to determine the picks, based on free-agent losses and gains. The league uses salary, playing time and postseason honors as the criteria.

The Jets lost three unrestricted free agents that were factored into a formula (Demario Davis, Damon Harrison and Chris Ivory) and gained two (Steve McLendon and Matt Forte). Harrison was the big loss; he's the reason why they landed the extra third-rounder.