Blues rule out trading Harry McKay and Charlie Curnow amid salary cap concerns

Despite a tight cap and looming giant payday for Tom De Koning, the Blues have officially ruled out moving on from their big names as they await the official takeover of Graham Wright.

Carlton is adamant its salary cap is in good enough shape to pay Tom De Koning’s million-dollar wage as it emphatically ruled out trading star forwards Charlie Curnow and Harry McKay.

The Blues have offered De Koning around $1.1 million a season on a seven-year deal but are still well short of St Kilda’s $1.7 million offer.

Neither of the big Blues forwards will be leaving. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Carlton has privately dismissed media suggestions it had any interest in considering trades for its key forward pair, especially given the mediocre talent in store in the 2025 national draft.

Blues football boss Brad Lloyd went one step further ahead of the Dons game, making clear the club’s responsible cap management meant the salary cap was tight but not at bursting point.

“Certainly not,” he said of any consideration to big-name trades.

“We are in more of a retention mode which includes ‘TDK’ in that, those guys are high end talent and quality players and good clubmen. We want to keep all those types and keep adding.

“We are looking forward to getting Jagga Smith in (next year) and adding to our list but we certainly don’t want to lose anyone of that quality.

“We are really comfortable where we sit from a cap point of view. We have got quality players on our list who do get looked after but we can afford Tommy and other players who we have looked after.”

The Blues allowed Matt Kennedy and Matt Owies to move on last year and did not chase Dan Houston in part to retain cap space for De Koning’s free agency contract and Sam Walsh’s 2026 signature.

De Koning’s future remains up in the air. Picture: Michael Klein

Curnow and McKay are both handsomely paid but were secured as pre-agents who would have cost even more had the Blues allowed them to come out of contract in their free agency year.

McKay missed the victory over Essendon with knee soreness and he is no certainty to return against West Coast next Sunday off a six-day break with travel to Perth.

Lloyd told ABC Radio that despite perceptions of incoming CEO Graham Wright as an agent of change he had been working collegiately with his fellow staffers since February.

“We respect his experience. He’s been here seven months now. He’s been working with everyone and we respect that he will make decisions at some stage. He has come in and listened and feels a very strong part of the team. He’s a team member and he’s been working with everyone but there will be decisions made each year as well.”

Originally published as Blues rule out trading Harry McKay and Charlie Curnow amid salary cap concerns