The New England Patriots have had only one significant day of free agency activity since the tampering period opened in March. In one day, they signed a handful of new and returning players to deals. Aside from that, they’ve watched from the sidelines.

There are options available: receivers Michael Crabtree and Chris Hogan, tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins, linebackers Jamie Collins and Shane Ray and defensive linemen Timmy Jernigan, Corey Liuget and Ndamukong Suh. The Patriots may sign one or many of those players, but New England is likely going to wait until May 7 to make any additional moves, as noted by Deadspin’s Dom Cosentino.

The reasoning comes down to compensatory picks.

If the Patriots sign any of the remaining free agents to a deal before May 7, those players will count against the compensatory pick formula, which awards the Patriots draft picks in return for their departures in free agency.

These teams will lose comp picks if they sign a certain number of additional compensatory free agents before May 7. pic.twitter.com/SnPdMm5NQV — Nick Korte (@nickkorte) April 1, 2019

In the 2019 NFL Draft, the Patriots have two compensatory picks in the third round, one in the sixth round and one in the seventh round. Those picks a due to the departures of tackle Nate Solder, cornerback Malcolm Butler, receiver Danny Amendola and running back Dion Lewis.

New England also lost big names in 2019 free agency, which could set them up for compensatory picks in the 2020 NFL Draft. The Patriots saw defensive end Trey Flowers and tackle Trent Brown, both of who are likely to earn the Patriots third-round compensatory picks. Bill Belichick and the Patriots seem to make those picks an essential part of their team-building process, as they have had the fourth-most compensatory picks (39) since the league began giving them out in 1994. So the Patriots don’t want to jeopardize losing those picks by signing a free agent now, when he will probably be around until after May 7.

May 7 may be like the second coming of free agency.