I never understood how this works and I think its most likely simple what I'm missing. The fact he got signed to their roster means that we will get some sort of comp pick for him depending on the amount of snaps he actually plays, correct?
No. We cut Nzeocha. He was not on our roster. Players on practice squads are open game for any team to sign, just like if they were street free agents. You cut them. They were off your team. Any team can have at them.
You get draft pick compensation FROM a team, when a team signs a restricted free agent that you tendered at a certain level. The team signing the player has to give you a pick at the specific level. But Nzeocha wasn't a restricted free agent, he had been released. He had no NFL-level contract from us. Practice squad guys are not subject to the other league contract rules: case in point, they make like $80k a year, far below the league minimum salaries negotiated by the CBA.
Another form of draft pick compensation is from the LEAGUE.... when you lose certain players in unrestricted free agency, depending on how many players you signed yourself, and how well the departing player plays the following year, and how big of a contract he signed... the LEAGUE awards you compensatory picks. But again, this is calculated based on players you lose via free agency.
Nzeocha... not a free agent. Not even on the roster. He was cut, he loses all those protections.