AFL 2022: The gettable free agents your club can snare

He won a best and fairest in a premiership year, and now this Tiger star has eclipsed some other high-profile free agents. What is he worth on the market?

If free agency was an attempt to bring about liberated player movement across the competition it has turned into an epic failure.

Last year just five players moved as unrestricted or restricted free agents and none of them were in the top 150 players in the competition.

Jake Kelly, Mabior Chol, George Hewett, Luke Dunstan and Tim O’Brien moved homes in what was admittedly a year with tight salary caps for rival sides.

Kelly finished seventh in the best-and-fairest of the 15th-placed team, Dunstan and Hewett missed the top 10 entirely, O’Brien was 20th in the 14th-placed team and Chol didn’t even make the top 20 at Richmond.

If free agency is an avenue to handsomely reward pre-agents — forcing clubs to fatten contracts the year before stars hit eight years service — then on that score it has been an unmitigated success.

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Mabior Chol was among the free agents to move clubs in 2021. Picture: Getty Images

Star players get fabulous sums to stay but rarely move as free agents and when they do they run into the kind of issues Jeremy Cameron did when Geelong were forced into a trade or they are getting out of Dodge City like Joe Daniher.

It is why free agency has become a vehicle for bargain basement delisted picks _ Tyson Stengle, Hugh Greenwood, Jarrod Brander — or mid-tier players who are valued by rivals much more than their existing clubs.

This year’s list of 100-odd free agents has a handful of marquee names who will sign on with their clubs — Isaac Heeney, Angus Brayshaw, Jordan De Goey, Darcy Moore, Jackson Macrae.

But the real value for list managers lies in the ability to use ample cap space to drag out a player who will easily slot into their top eight best players.

A player who customarily hasn’t been paid the big bucks by his existing side and probably won’t be in the future.

It is why Richmond’s Jayden Short looms as such an enticing figure in this year’s free agency market.

Could Jayden Short be this year’s in demand free agent? Picture: Michael Klein

His manager Anthony McConville says the two parties have made initial contact, with Short keen to stay.

Clearly that would require a fair contract from Richmond, but what would a rival offer Short given his pedigree?

The hard-charging, long-kicking won the best-and-fairest in the premiership year of 2020 ahead of Dustin Martin, Nick Vlastuin and Shai Bolton before a seventh-placing last year.

Brandon Ellis won a five-year $600,000 contract as a free agent and Short is clearly a more accomplished and damaging player than the Sun.

Is he as damaging as Carlton’s Zac Williams, who won an $800,000-per-season deal?

Last year he went at 24.6 possessions, kicked at 78 per cent efficiency, averaged 555 metres gained, with Williams never kicking at better than 74 per cent across his career, never averaging more than 473 metres gained.

The point isn’t to shop Short or fatten his price tag, it is to realise players like him face much bigger free agency decisions than De Goey, Moore and Macrae who will all get handsome rewards to sign away free agency and stay at existing clubs.

For what it’s worth, his manager Anthony McConville said the two parties weren’t yet at a stage to talk about his worth.

Melbourne speedster Jayden Hunt could explore free agency in search for more game time. Picture: Getty Images

“Well, we are just having initial conversations as to where at and so forth, no timeline as to what we do with it, but that’s probably where we are at. So no one is going to be silly but like any player out of contract it’s an important period given he’s a free agent and he’s 26 and he’s playing the best footy of his career.”

Prediction: he does what in-demand Tigers Nick Vlastuin, Shai Bolton and Ivan Soldo did last year (and Jack Graham the year before) and accepts less than rival offers to remain a Richmond man.

But what if one of the cashed-up clubs keen to add a rocket launcher to half back offered a 26-year-old $750,000 a season over five years, aware the salary cap isn’t too far off going up again?

Who are the other bang-for-buck free agents clubs will be looking at given the extremely slim pickings on the free agency market?

Jake Lloyd (Sydney)

Gold Coast threw the kitchen sink at Lloyd last time around but instead he signed a four-year extension with the Swans and has punched out three exceptionally consistent seasons (22, 17 and 22 games with 677, 439 and 614 disposals).

Sydney will hope their cap issues can ease somewhat but Lloyd is only 28, and like Bailey Dale and Jayden Hunt, sets up the ground with precision kicking.

Jake Lloyd has had a strong few seasons since re-signing with the Swans. Picture: Michael Klein

Bailey Dale (Western Bulldogs)

The Bulldogs have got where they are because under list manager Sam Power they are fiscally responsible and share the salary love around.

Someone might throw a stupid number around if he can back up his breakout year as a repurposed half back who kicked at 75 per cent accuracy (526 metres gained) and broke open games as one of footy’s best half dozen kicks. Especially given the Dogs have so many high-profile stars to sign up already.

Jayden Hunt (Melbourne)

The modern game is all about speed from halfback and Hunt seemed to have curtailed the exuberant dashes which invariably ran him into blind turns, realising when to burst and when to dish off to an easy target up field. Shattered to miss the flag with a poorly timed injury, can he win his spot back given Jake Bowey’s emergence as a future 200-gamer.

Jack Gunston (Hawthorn)

Gunston will still only be 30 in trade period (he turns 31 in October).

He wasn’t going anywhere over the last trade period, mainly because clubs weren’t giving up picks for 29-year-olds coming off back surgery.

But as a free agent clubs would believe he can do what Jack Riewoldt has and play exceptionally consistent football until 34 years of age.

So much depends upon Hawthorn’s progress under Sam Mitchell this year.

Jayden Laverde is coming off a career-best year. Picture: Getty Images

Jayden Laverde (Essendon)

Took on an array of forwards large, medium and small in 2021 in a new role down back and mostly beat them comprehensively, also taking 51 intercept marks and winning 5.9 intercept possessions.

Jake Kelly’s arrival shouldn’t harm his selection chances given he is locked in to play on the Toby Greene-Tom Papley types, but rivals will see if he can back up 2021.

Originally published as AFL 2022: The gettable free agents your club can snare