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AFL free agency is here, but the biggest deal has gone backwards. Butters is left with these options
AFL free agency is here. But the biggest free agent of all’s pathway to his new club isn’t so clear. Port Adelaide superstar Zak Butters has nominated a move to the Western Bulldogs over fellow Victorian suitors including Geelong.
WHAT'S GAMBLING REALLY COSTING YOU? Set a deposit limit. For Free and confidential support call 1800 858 858 or visit gamblinghelponline.org.au. But the Dogs’ greater openness and willingness to get a deal done, along with an improved offer — an AFL record nine-year term worth as much as $18 million in total — made Butters’ childhood club his preferred new home for 2027.
That comfort of ensuring a deal could be reached and making sure the Power were fairly compensated were impact factors in the decision. The clubs will need to go back to the drawing board after their plans for Port to take the free agency compensation pick, No.5, then make a side deal hit a roadblock.
Port Adelaide’s Todd Marshall emerged as a potential circuit breaker in a complex deal that would’ve been centred around Port getting two first-rounders from the Dogs, separate to the Pick 5 compensation. It was framed as a pick purchasing deal, with Port to receive picks for Marshall in exchange for contributing to the majority of his lucrative salary, which is worth around $800,000 until 2029.
But that was prohibited by the AFL due to a little-known change around rules that doesn’t allow clubs to make trades with salary contributions if a different player switches between the same clubs during the matching player movement window. Therefore, as Port was already losing Butters to the Dogs in free agency, the Power couldn’t also include top-up money in a separate trade.
In essence, the Power would’ve gotten Pick 5 and two first-rounders for Butters and Marshall and chipped in the majority of Marshall’s wage at the Dogs in that arrangement. That doesn’t necessarily stop Marshall, or another Port player, from being traded to the Dogs, or another club, as part of a separate deal. But Port simply isn’t allowed to contribute towards his salary at Whitten Oval.
And so don’t expect the Dogs to lodge paperwork for a Butters deal for some time while the club’s work through plan B, C and D. Free agency runs for a week through to the following Friday, while the trade period kicks off next Monday. The longer the Dogs take to lodge the offer, the more time Port is afforded to match the deal and force a trade or simply take Pick 5 as compensation.
But the overlap between free agency and the trade period does add a heightened level of urgency for Port to ensure it has its plans in place. Clubs are given three days to decide if they want to match an offer for a restricted free agent. It’s believed the Power have been in talks with multiple clubs over alternate trade options as they’ll look to get creative to net the maximum return for their departing star.
The clubs couldn’t turn around now and do the same Marshall trade without Port contributing to his salary. For, in the deal that got blocked, his salary was basically being moved as a negative asset — like the Jack Bowes-to-Geelong salary dump deal. But there could be scope for Marshall, or another Port player, to be traded to another club and/or put in a bigger deal with multiple teams and the Power gains extra assets that way.
Alternately, the Dogs, or another club, could overplay for a player with real value. Miles Bergman’s name has been murmured, a year before he’s due to enter free agency, though Port list boss Jason Cripps said the club hasn’t had any conversations around him. If Tasmania was entering the AFL next season or allowed to make trades this off-season, this option would be much more doable.
You sense one of those is the most likely outcome; that Port opts against matching the Dogs offer, gets Pick 5 as compensation, then does some sort of side trade. Zak Butters of the Power wins the Showdown Medal during the 2026 AFL Round 16 match between the Port Adelaide Power and the Adelaide Crows at Adelaide Oval on June 27, 2026 in Adelaide, Australia.
But if the AFL doesn’t approve anything of that nature, a worst-case scenario would see the Power and Dogs need to make a straight trade for Butters. That’s less than ideal for all parties, however. Port would get less, as basically any first-rounder that comes from the Dogs will be in the teens, the Dogs would have to give up more, and it’d place further stress on Butters getting to his destination.
There could also be options for Port to get other players, instead of picks, back. St Kilda’s Mattaes Phillipou is from South Australia and he’s seen as a player that could be gettable. Bulldog Laitham Vandermeer is another.
Yet we know draft picks are the upmost priority for Port right now as it transitions the list under Josh Carr and needs point to match bids on its highly-rated linked prospects in the coming drafts including Dougie Cochrane , Louis Salopek and Zemes Pilot .
“We’ve obviously got some clear objectives we’re working towards. One of which is acquiring picks and points for this year and next,” Cripps said on AFL Trade Radio.
“While this is undoubtedly a critical period for our list and club, our focus remains on a three-year strategic horizon, rather than any single trade period or transaction. ”More specifically, the Power need points for 2027 if they wanted to ensure they can double dip on Salopek and Pilot.
A Butters trade is effectively the best way to help them achieve that — a task much harder following the tightening of draft rules that mean clubs need to pay a higher price for father-son/academy players than ever before. It couldn’t have come at a worse time for Port, who stands as the club most affected with top prospects in both this draft and next. All while Tasmania is set to enter the competition and compromise the 2027 crop.
As things stand, Port could match a Pick 1 on Cochrane with its first two selections, 4 and 22, and still have some points left over. However, with the Devils set to dilute the 2027 draft, the Power would struggle to match bids on one of Salopek or Pilot right now, let alone both. That doesn’t mean Port has to specifically target 2027 draft assets in a Butters deal.
The priority would be get the best possible suite of selections, then work out the rest later and potential future pick swaps. Of course, they might even be better off punting on one of Salopek or Pilot, who’ve both committed to Alberton. For matching bids on two highly-end draft prospects might simply be too rich in the current climatem and getting a top 2026 prospect for much cheaper could be the better play.
These are undoubtedly the types of discussions that will be taking place amongst the Power’s list management team. Whatever happens, the Butters transaction will play a key role in shaping Port’s list and launching it into a new era.
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