AFL trade period day 6: Updates, news and every deal
The latest on the Clayton Oliver front, where the Christian Petracca and Jamarra Ugle-Hagan deals sit plus all of Monday’s trade news here.
Melbourne will pay a similar percentage of its salary cap for Clayton Oliver to play elsewhere as Collingwood did for ex-Pies Brodie Grundy and Adam Treloar in its 2023 premiership season.
The Giants are now committed to four-time Bluey Truscott Medallist Oliver after he requested a trade to the Giants but working through the contract implications for the contracted star.
Oliver has five seasons on a deal of around $1.3 million a year and the Demons could pay up to half of that figure.
While it seems a huge wage Oliver was at the peak of his powers and a year away from free agency when he signed that monster deal to 2030.
The Demons are recasting their midfield and are prepared to pay what could be up to $3.5 million over the life of the deal for Oliver to be elsewhere.
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But the exact figure will depend upon what selection the Giants are prepared to give up for Oliver,
They are also trying to secure Gold Coast’s No.7 and 8 draft picks for Christian Petracca but would have to give up a pick in the 20s or 30s so the Suns could amass draft points for academy players.
Those discussions will ramp up in Melbourne between the Demons and Suns on Tuesday.
Melbourne has picks 24 and 28 but might hope to give a later selection back to the Suns over Petracca.
The Giants have only picks 12 and 35 in this year’s draft, having traded away pick 37 to the Dogs to move up the draft order from 14 to 12.
The Suns are also on track to secure Jamarra Ugle-Hagan, needing only AFL approval and specifics about the wording of the contract clauses that would give them protection if he was involved in a sackable offence.
They will likely trade a late throw-away pick to the Dogs for Ugle-Hagan, with Luke Beveridge keen for him to secure a fresh start somewhere else.
In the 2023 premiership year when the Pies won the flag they paid around $300,000 to the Western Bulldogs for Adam Treloar and $250,000 to the Demons for Brodie Grundy.
They had traded both those players with years on their contract but decided to instead align their salary cap with different players.
That year’s salary cap was $15.02 million.
Next year’s salary cap will be $18.3 million and the 2027 cap will be $18.44 million with the Demons potentially paying as much as $700,000 to the Giants, which represents about 3.8 per cent of the salary cap.
The 2028 salary cap has not yet been set given the collective bargaining agreement expires in 2027 but despite AFL warnings to clubs the salary cap will likely rise again.
So while Melbourne would prefer to have Oliver’s salary off their books it is a necessary sacrifice for a club who on-traded Grundy after a single disastrous year in 2023 without having to continue paying any of his wage.
Originally published as AFL trade period day 6: Updates, news and every deal
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