KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- There is outrage among the fans of the Kansas City Chiefs and there should be. The Chiefs were stripped by the NFL of a couple of draft picks, a rattling blow to a franchise that needs all the help it can possibly get if it's going to catch the better teams in its division and conference.

That anger should be aimed not at the NFL, but the Chiefs themselves.

The Chiefs lost a third-round draft pick in 2016 and a sixth-round choice next year and were fined $250,000 by the NFL for improper contact last year with wide receiver Jeremy Maclin before the start of the free-agent signing period. For their roles in the matter, coach Andy Reid was fined $75,000 and general manager John Dorsey was docked $25,000.

The Chiefs directly contacted Maclin, a potential free agent, during the negotiating window that preceeds the signing period. Teams are allowed to contact the agents for potential free agents during the negotiating window, but not the players themselves.

Chairman Clark Hunt, in a statement released by the team, said he believes the league came down too hard on the Chiefs "particularly given the league's inconsistent communication of its policies on contact with potential free agents."

But the rule seems clear. Talk to the agent during the negotiating window, not the player. In the statement, Hunt didn't deny the Chiefs contacted Maclin directly.

If the Chiefs had a message for Maclin, who played for Reid for several seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles and eventually wound up signing with the Chiefs, they could have relayed it through his agent.

Because they couldn't wait, the Chiefs are out the chance to draft a good player in the third round this year. Think that's insignificant? The Chiefs have drafted, among others, tight end Travis Kelce, running back Knile Davis, cornerback Phillip Gaines and wide receiver Chris Conley in the third round since the arrivals of Dorsey and Reid.

Going back a few years earlier, to 2008, the Chiefs drafted running back Jamaal Charles in the third round.

Hunt suggested the Chiefs would appeal the league's ruling and may get one pick or both back. But perhaps not, and it's simply better not to take the chance of losing it.

The Chiefs have to play by the rules. Because they didn't, they have no one else to blame for the consequences.