Moneyball: Latest AFL trade whispers and contract news

Patrick Cripps says he was never leaving Carlton and hopes taking less money sets a precedent which will lead the club to success.

Jake Stringer of the Bombers.

Carlton co-captain Patrick Cripps hopes his decision to accept a club-friendly, six-year contract will enable the Blues to retain and recruit more talent.

Carlton’s resident contested-ball king ended months of speculation when his new deal was announced this week, following Coleman Medal leader Harry McKay in re-committing at Ikon Park.

“It’s obviously very exciting. I was pumped to get it done, to be honest, (because) you get asked about it a lot throughout the year,” Cripps said.

“Just to be committed to the club for another six years and for them to show faith in me is awesome. I look forward to a successful next six years at the club.”

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Patrick Cripps wants Carlton to be a destination club.

Cripps, 26, was adamant he never considered leaving the Blues and the delay in him re-signing was just about working through “a few little, minor details”.

His attention continues to be on resurrecting a Carlton side that’s so far failed to live up to the hype, including a 4-9 record this year when finals was on the radar.

That followed Zac Williams, Adam Saad and Lachie Fogarty joining from other teams in the off-season.

Cripps wants the Blues to become a destination club and is “bullish” about their fortunes changing in the near future.

“We want success and I feel like we have a lot of talent on this list, so we want to keep these guys together and we want to keep adding bits and pieces,” he said.

“I think (my contract) sets a good precedent for the group. If we can all do that, and keep fitting people in but also keeping people, it will give us the best opportunity for success, which is what we all want.

“We want to be a club people want to come to. It was great last year … and we want to keep that coming, but, most importantly, ‘H’ (McKay) signed and ‘Weiters’ (Jacob Weitering) signed last year.

“A lot of these young guys we’ve drafted early have signed, so although externally we’re copping a bit of heat, internally we’re really confident in the direction we’re going.”

Cripps again threw his support behind under-fire coach David Teague, but said finishing strongly in the final nine games this season — starting with Adelaide on Sunday — was important for everyone.

“There is a heap to gain. There are nine games left and that’s a lot of footy to be played,” he said.

“We’ve been a chance to win (more matches) and haven’t quite got over the line, but we’ve been in most games, which is the pleasing thing.

“It’s disappointing to not get the results, but we’re a group that never gets blown out of the water and at some point they will turn more into wins.”

CRIPPS’ MASSIVE SACRIFICE TO HELP BLUES PROSPER

Jon Ralph

Patrick Cripps has voluntarily accepted a massive pay cut of nearly $200,000 per season to allow Carlton to build its premiership list after signing a six-year deal on Friday.

The Herald Sun can reveal Cripps’ six-year deal is well short of market rate after the Carlton captain stated his main priority was to win a premiership at the Blues.

It was at his insistence that he took a longer-term deal on less money to keep his dream alive.

Cripps has put pen to paper on a deal that will see him secured until 2027, only days after guaranteeing he would remain at the club despite their current issues.

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While the six-year length of the deal saw critics immediately question him playing until 32, Cripps effectively smoothed out the money over a longer deal.

He made clear early in negotiations he was not driven by money and wanted to leave cash on the table so the Blues could again go to the market to add talent.

Fremantle’s Adam Cerra is No. 1 on the club’s wishlist, with Carlton believing they are a chance to secure the brilliant Dockers talent.

Cripps is believed to be on a deal of around $900,00-$950,000 at the Blues but will take home around $750,000 over the six-year deal.

The Herald Sun revealed last month Cripps had agreed to stay, with only haggling over the final details of the contract.

Instead of a fancy dinner to celebrate his deal Cripps is quarantining like all his Carlton teammates ahead of a negative COVID test because the Blues played at Giants Stadium last week.

NSW recorded a spate of new positives on Friday, with the Carlton players at low risk but needing negative tests before taking on Adelaide on Sunday.

Patrick Cripps has signed on for another six years at Carlton.

The Carlton captain has played solid but not exceptional football this year in a team that is battling to make an impact under besieged coach David Teague.

But he has always stated he wanted to remain with the club that drafted him, aware how special it would be if he could win a premiership from the bottom up.

While Cripps will play his entire last season of the contract as a 32-year-old, the Blues believe the inside midfielder will easily reach the end of that deal.

At 194cm the contested ball beast has been able to go forward at times as a marking target, even if his set-shot kicking has needed work over the years.

But when free of injury Cripps has shown he still has the tank to play multiple positions away from the midfield.

Carlton’s next job will be to consider a long-term extension for Sam Walsh, who is in his third season in a deal that expires at the end of 2022.

Walsh is already arguably Carlton’s best player alongside Harry McKay and would command in excess of $800,000 given his leadership and star power.

The Blues would consider offers for Sam Petrevski-Seton and Lochie O’Brien, who are both on the outer at Carlton.

HOGAN ON TRACK TO TRIGGER NEW GIANTS DEAL

Jesse Hogan is on track for a contract extension at GWS despite injuries disguising so much of his positive development in his first year at the Giants.

Hogan accepted a single-season contract when he was moved from Fremantle and has been limited to only two games because of quad and calf injuries.

He trained well on Thursday at the MCG and will likely be available to face his first side Melbourne next week at that venue as the Giants spend a fortnight in Melbourne.

Hogan had a simple games-based clause in his contract — believed to be between 10-12 games — that he will likely not meet.

But talks are underway between the Giants and his management at TLA on providing certainty ahead of the 2022 season.

Such a deal would allow Hogan, who has spent the year living with teammate Shane Mumford, to plan with certainty for next year.

He has battled back from poor alcohol choices, an anxiety disorder and a handful of controversies to find peace living in Sydney.

Jesse Hogan trains with the Giants at the MCG.

Giants football boss Jason McCartney told News Corp the club was thrilled with Hogan’s progress off the field despite his on-field injuries.

“We are chatting with his manager Matty Bain and no doubt he’s ticking all the boxes. He has a game-based trigger there and he is probably unlikely to get to it, but he had a really good session today and likely all going well he will be back available next week. If he keeps going the way he is going, it all takes care of itself.”

The Giants are still awaiting an answer from free agent Josh Kelly on his future as he ponders remaining on an eight-year, $8 million contract or decides to move south.

GWS matched Jeremy Cameron’s free agency deal and extracted three first-rounders from Geelong last year, but it is not known if they would contemplate the same tactic if Kelly left.

The Giants’ first draft pick is currently No. 10, but with two father-sons in the top handful of selections the current compensation pick for Kelly would be pick 13.

STRINGER OPENS TALKS ON NEW DONS DEAL

Jake Stringer’s strong preference is to remain at Essendon on a significant deal as early negotiations start on a new long-term deal.

The Herald Sun revealed last month that the parties remained a long way apart in pay talks after Stringer moved to Essendon at the end of 2017 on a four-year deal worth just over $500,000 a season.

The star has never been able to secure the bumper deal of other players of his talent given injuries and his chequered past when he arrived from the Western Bulldogs.

But despite his inconsistency as a mid-forward he remains one of the most captivating players in the league and is coming off a career-best performance against Hawthorn.

Despite a report his future was “clouded”, Stringer moving on from Essendon would be a disastrous last-ditch decision if talks broke down unexpectedly.

Talks are at a very early stage, with the 27-year-old expected to want a deal of at least four seasons, but no specific discussions about tenure having taken place yet.

Essendon has re-signed Zach Merrett and Darcy Parish has pledged his future to the club, set for a pay rise after he declared recently he doesn’t want to leave.

Stringer’s statistics do not reflect his potency — despite averaging only 13.9 possessions and 84 SuperCoach points, he has two bags of four goals and a trio of three-goal hauls.

Jake Stringer played one of the best games of his career in Round 14.

Essendon has had to find room for Merrett and will take up some of its cap space with Parish’s improved deal.

But after losing Joe Daniher, Conor McKenna, Orazio Fantasia and Adam Saad at the end of last season the Dons cleared well over $2 million of cap space, so salary cap room is not an issue.

Fox Footy commentator David King said on Monday he believed Stringer was a $700,000 per season player despite his inconsistency.

“Players like him win you games of football,” he said on SEN.

“They don’t perform every week because it’s impossible to play like that every week. The discussion about him being inconsistent, you can’t be consistently like that and we’ve never seen a player like that.

“They don’t win that game without him, and he probably does that three times a year, so the question is what’s that worth to you. When he lights up like that, everything else works.

“He’s Dustin Martin for the Bombers at the moment. Essendon sets the game up for Jake to be his best in all of his strength areas and then he tries to deliver for them.

“When he does, it works big and when it fails, it doesn’t really fail big. I do think he’s a $700,000 a year player, because he’s going to individually win you three games a year and to me that has a worth.”

Originally published as Moneyball: Latest AFL trade whispers and contract news