Holy shit.
That's actually brilliant.
Veach, meanwhile, worried that the Saints and the Cardinals, picking at No. 13, had the draft picks to trade up higher than No. 10, if they were so motivated. But there was one piece of NFL fine print working in the Chiefs’ favor. NFL contracts for rookies contain a team option for a fifth season, and it just so happened that the slotted money for the fifth‑year option fell off substantially from the tenth pick to the eleventh. Thus, it made financial sense for the Saints and Cardinals to sit tight and not trade up. The Chiefs, Veach thought, could catch the entire league by surprise.