The Houston Texans had the most overall selections in the 2002 NFL draft and, not surprisingly, the expansion franchise has also been awarded the largest rookie pool allocation by the NFL Management Council.

	2002 Rookie Pool
	Team	Picks	Rookie pool
	Texans	13	$6.35 million
	Bills	10	$5.139 million
	Panthers	9	$5.078 million
	Lions	9	$4.972 million
	Chargers	8	$4.778 million
	Cowboys	9	$4.577 million
	Saints	9	$4.564 million
	Raiders	8	$4.254 million
	Jaguars	9	$4.230 million
	Titans	10	$4.149 million
	Vikings	7	$4.035 million
	Seahawks	10	$3.876 million
	Cardinals	8	$3.75 million
	Colts	8	$3.762 million
	Redskins	10	$3.701 million
	Ravens	10	$3.661 million
	Browns	8	$3.606 million
	49ers	10	$3.473 million
	Chiefs	5	$3.389 million
	Bengals	6	$3.349 million
	Eagles	8	$3.318 million
	Broncos	8	$3.306 million
	Bears	9	$3.304 million
	Giants	7	$3.215 million
	Rams	8	$3.211 million
	Steelers	8	$3.071 million
	Falcons	8	$3.059 million
	Patriots	6	$2.62 million
	Packers	6	$2.527 million
	Jets	5	$2.525 million
	Bucs	8	$2.144 million
	Dolphins	5	$1.443 million

The rookie pool is, essentially, a cap within a salary cap. It represents the maximum in aggregate salary cap value that a team is permitted to invest in its draft choices and also the undrafted free agents it signs. It is included in, not exclusive of, the team's overall spending limit of $71.101 million for the 2002 campaign.

According to NFL Players Association documents obtained by ESPN.com, the Texans have a rookie ceiling of $6.35 million to spend on their league-high 13 draft choices. The Houston rookie pool is nearly 20 percent more than that of the next-highest club, Buffalo, which has a limit of $5.139 million for its 10 draft choices.

With a signing bonus of $10.92 million and a first-year base salary of $1.04 million, the Texans already have expended $2.6 million in rookie pool funds on quarterback David Carr, the first player chosen in the draft.

The rookie allocation is based on the number of choices a team has and where the picks occur. The formula, created by the NFL Management Council, is seemingly as guarded as the recipe for Coca-Cola and few have been able to divine it.

Consider the disparity in the respective rookie pools of the six franchises which had 10 choices each in the draft. They range from Buffalo, at $5.139 million, to San Francisco, at $3.473 million.

Notable about the rookie pool this year is that, despite a slight increase in the 2002 salary cap, the allocation for first-year players is relatively "flat" at about $118 million. And it is expected to be so for the 2003 season as well.

The Miami Dolphins and Tampa Bay Bucs, neither of whom had a draft choice until the third round, have the league's lowest rookie pools.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com.