The New Orleans Saints and Kansas City Chiefs have reached an agreement to trade left tackle Willie Roaf from the Saints to the Chiefs for a fourth-round choice in the 2003 draft, ESPN.com's John Clayton reported Monday night.

It could be upgraded to a third-round choice in 2003 based on Roaf's performance with the Chiefs in 2002.

Roaf, 31, restructured his contract to facilitate a trade, and the new deal will be for six years and worth $21 million with a $3.5 million signing bonus.

The biggest problem in this trade wasn't negotiations between the Chiefs and Saints, but getting an acceptable deal between Roaf and the Chiefs. The Saints planned to keep Roaf under two option bonus plans that would have kept his annual salary in the $4 million a year range.

The Saints had repeatedly extended their deadline because Roaf was supposed to be close to a deal with the Chiefs. Had it past Monday night's deadline of midnight ET, the Saints planned to execute one of those option clauses to keep him on the roster.

The Chiefs and the Denver Broncos had both been negotiating With agent Peter Schaffer for Roaf, who said last month he would retire unless the Saints traded or released him.