ATLANTA -- In his first two weeks, new Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank is getting a rudimentary education in the price of doing business in the NFL, and discovering the hard way that there aren't very many occasions when you can buy at wholesale rates.

That is especially true in the case of Blank's pursuit of Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager Rich McKay, a man who seemingly has no remaining responsibilities with his current employer, but who could cost his potential boss a king's ransom to free from his contract.

McKay remains Blank's first choice to assume the GM post in Atlanta, a key job in the Falcons' reconfigured front office, and the two men met in Atlanta on Thursday. The long-awaited session came only after Buccaneers ownership granted McKay, who has one year remaining on his Tampa Bay contract, permission to meet with Blank about the Atlanta job.

Blank termed McKay "a very, very bright young man" with "very good credentials." There is little doubt, though, that McKay tops the Atlanta wish list, even as Blank struggles to define a job for which he has interviewed four candidates of disparate strengths.

But the Thursday meeting that could eventually lead to a Blank-McKay partnership, sources told ESPN.com, came with a critical caveat: As a precondition to the interview, the Falcons had to agree they would compensate the Bucs with their first-round draft choice in 2002 and a second-round selection in 2003, should they hire McKay.

The compensation is stunningly steep and, barring a change of heart, the Falcons will not pay such an exorbitant asking price. By comparison, the Indianapolis Colts compensated Carolina with just a third-round choice when they hired president/general manager Bill Polian away from the Panthers in 1998.

Sources close to Blank said he might consider "nominal" compensation to free McKay, who spent part of Friday removing items from his office at the Bucs complex.

There are some possibilities, however, that would permit the Falcons to acquire McKay, 44, for less than the current price. If the Bus hire current San Francisco coach Steve Mariucci to the dual roles of coach and general manager, which they are expected to try to do by next week, then Tampa Bay ownership might be inclined to let McKay depart for much less in compensation.

San Francisco sources said Friday night that the Bucs "might get a steal" in compensation owed the 49ers for freeing Mariucci from his contract.

"It's a very palatable price," one source said.

That source said if the 49ers demand only a third-round choice for Mariucci, the Bucs might seek a similar asking price for allowing McKay to sign with the Falcons.

The problem for Atlanta is that the Falcons already are without their second- and fourth-round choices in the 2002 draft because of trades made last year.

The other way in which McKay might gain his freedom is to challenge the validity of his contract with the Bucs. Although the contract does not explicitly cede him authority over the hiring of the head coach, he might argue to commissioner Paul Tagliabue that by vetoing his choice of Marvin Lewis last Friday, ownership ostensibly breached the contract.

And if Mariucci is hired as coach and general manager, McKay could contend that he no longer has a job. Mariucci, in essence, would have replaced him in the GM role.

"As an attorney," said a McKay loyalist in the Bucs organization, "Rich knows what he can and can't argue about his contract. And there appear to be a few loopholes there."

It is unlikely that, as the league's newest owner, Blank would want to immediately put himself into a situation where Tagliabue might have to intervene. So the cleaner McKay's break with the Bucs, the better for Blank and the Falcons.

Like the other three candidates that Blank interviewed -- New Orleans Saints general manager Randy Mueller, Buffalo Bills director of football operations Tom Modrak and Seattle Seahawks vice president Mike Reinfeldt -- there are some qualms on the part of McKay about just what the job description is in Atlanta. The other question the candidates have is where and how the power will be split with head coach Dan Reeves, who has surrounded himself with his own people at virtually every key front office position.

Blank has not said if he plans to interview further candidates. But the Manhattan-based search firm he has retained to identify possible general managers was still phoning possible candidates earlier this week.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.