Rumour swirling AFL rising star ‘offered $10.5m’ by rival club

A rival club is reportedly ready to make a mind-blowing contract offer to make a Demons rising star the highest paid player in the AFL.

Luke Jackson has reason to smile. Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images.

Demons rising star Luke Jackson is reportedly set to be offered $10.5 million by Fremantle in another bombshell twist to his contract saga.

Just days after it was first reported the Dockers were ready to present an “extremely attractive” offer to the 20-year-old, West Coast legend Peter Sumich claims the offer is worth a staggering $1.5 million per-year.

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The Melbourne ruckman has had a break-out 18 months with the Demons and was a crucial piece in their premiership puzzle.

The former No. 3 pick from the 2019 AFL Draft is out of contract at the end of the 2022 season.

Both Fremantle and West Coast are reported to have significant interest in luring the talented star back home to Perth.

Luke Jackson is going to get paid. Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images.

Sumich has now revealed how serious the Dockers are.

“Look, I’ve heard Fremantle have offered him seven-years at 10.5 million dollars,” Sumich said on 91.3 SportFM radio in Perth.

“That’s a lot of money and that if that is the case I reckon it’s ridiculous. The kid’s not worth that, but sometimes you pay overs to get them in. It will be interesting times for Luke.”

Sumich said he hopes Jackson remains at Melbourne out of loyalty to the club that drafted him. With Demons superstar Max Gawn suffering a serious ankle injury, Jackson has a huge platform to prove he is worth a rich contract.

“It’s going to be an interesting next four weeks with how he goes as the No. 1 ruckman,” Sumich said.

“What if he dominates? That ($10.5m) might be unders. I think the kid will go well. He’s still learning. Let’s remember he’s a basketballer who’s still learning his craft as a ruckman-forward.

“He’s still two years or even three years away from hitting his prime years.”

Luke Jackson has had a dream run with Melbourne. Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images.

The AFL released data earlier this year, revealing just six players earned more than $1 million in 2021, including Lance Franklin, Dustin Martin and Nat Fyfe.

Sumich also said he believes Fremantle is creating salary cap space to attempt to snatch Brownlow medallist Lachie Neale away from Brisbane during the 2022 Trade Period.

SEN’s Sam Edmund reported this week Fremantle was “setting some pennies aside” and had yet to present contract extension offers to some of its players.

“The picture is going to become clearer over this bye weekend,” Edmund said on SEN.

“The player movement space is chock-full of talk that Fremantle have presented an offer that is extremely attractive in terms of finances and tenure.

“Meanwhile, the Dockers have largely held off presenting new contracts to their out-of-contract players in the first half of the year, raising speculation they’re just setting some pennies aside.”

Originally published as Rumour swirling AFL rising star ‘offered $10.5m’ by rival club