If Teddy Bridgewater doesn't get picked in the first round of next month's NFL draft and can prove he has an injury or illness, he will collect a tax-free $5 million.
Sources tell ESPN.com that after the quarterback completed his junior season at Louisville, he added $5 million on top of his already purchased $10 million total disability injury policy and supplemented it with $5 million in loss-of-value insurance.
Because loss-of-value insurance is connected to an injury policy, the only way an athlete can collect from falling in the draft is if it's as a result of getting hurt or being ill.
When Bridgewater bought the loss-of-value policy for less than $20,000, he was projected to be the No. 3 pick in the draft, and a source with knowledge of the policy said he will start to collect money if he falls out of the top 11.
With each drop in draft slot after that, Bridgewater will pick up hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The actual loss of value between being picked No. 3 in this year's draft versus No. 33, the first pick in the second round, is about $15 million. But if Bridgewater can prove that his slip had to do an injury or illness, the policy will result in him getting $5 million back.
Recent projections have seen his stock fall. In his most recent mock draft made last week, ESPN NFL draft analyst Todd McShay had Bridgewater going 20th to the Arizona Cardinals, and earlier this month, ESPN NFL draft analyst Mel Kiper turned heads when he slotted Bridgewater as the first pick of the second round.
Last week, NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock said if he were a general manager, he also would pass on Bridgewater in Round 1.
For what it's worth, Bridgewater has not publicly revealed that he has any injury or illness. His drop mostly has been attributed to a lackluster pro day on March 17.
It is believed that no player who has bought loss-of-value insurance for the NFL draft has actually collected. Matt Leinart had a loss-of-value policy for his senior year at USC that would have paid him if he had slipped from the projected top pick to No. 15. He was selected No. 10 by the Cardinals.