AFL’s longest contracts: GWS list boss Jason McCartney on why more clubs are offering long-term deals than ever before

It wasn’t long ago AFL clubs were reluctant to commit to players long-term due to the risks involved. Now, deals of six years or more are the norm. LACHLAN MCKIRDY finds out why.

Six and seven-year contract extensions are the new norm in the AFL according to Giants general manager of footy Jason McCartney, as clubs deal with free agency list pressures and rivals with plenty of salary cap space.

The Giants have had a big week of re-signings with Finn Callaghan reportedly spurning a massive deal from St Kilda to stay in Western Sydney for four more years.

While defender Connor Idun, 24, signed a six-year extension to remain at the club until the end of 2032.

It means that GWS now have six players on their list contracted through until at least the end of 2029.

McCartney believes that group will continue to grow over the next 18 months as more players seek longer-term deals from their existing clubs to resist the temptation of testing their free agency value.

But for Idun in particular, his new deal is a perfect example of how clubs have had to adapt.

A six-year extension for a sub-100 game defender externally might appear extreme, even though he is an important role player and a part of the club’s leadership group.

However, if the Giants had let him get close to his unrestricted free agency at the end of 2026, there is a far greater risk a rival could come over the top with a massive deal.

Idun has shrugged off a potential bigger deal as unrestricted free agent at the end of 2026 to commit his future to the Giants. Picture: Phil Hillyard

“I think off the back of free agency, to be honest, the market’s completely changed,” McCartney said.

“There was a period way before I started in this game that there were a couple of five-year contracts in Essendon and I think one didn’t work out and everyone was fearful. So, four (years) was a long-term contract. Then the bigger ones like Buddy come along.

“But those (free agent) contracts when they’re coming out, you don’t get much change out of five, probably six years and in some circumstances seven in their free agency year. That takes players through to 32 or 33.

“That’s the market forces. If you don’t want to go to those lengths, you run the risk of the player or manager holding on a bit longer.

“And there are some clubs out there at the moment that have got a lot of cap space. The reality is some of the numbers being talked about would have to tempt someone at some stage.”

Given the Giants’ success in recent years, they’ve had to tread a fine line when it comes to list decisions.

While the Giants weren’t able to match an offer for Perryman (R) from the Pies, they got in early to secure Idun’s services. Picture: Russell Freeman/AFL Photos via Getty Images

By making a conscious effort not to match extravagant deals for the likes of Harry Perryman, Isaac Cumming and James Peatling, it left them in a position, for example, to be able to provide Callaghan with a contract that was at least somewhat closer to the $1.7 million a season reportedly offered to him by St Kilda.

“We’ve got to be a bit selective,” McCartney said.

“The boys that left last year, we love them as people … so you don’t necessarily want to lose them. But there is a limit.

“The free agent market and some of the boys that are unrestricted free agents last year for us, being Harry and Isaac, they got incredible offers that were too hard to refuse in the end.

“The reality is, look around the locker room of our side. We can’t compete with those numbers. We’ve been around the top four for the last couple of years. We think we’re still very capable of that and more, so those offers are unavailable at our club.”

Although contract value is important for players exploring their options, McCartney concedes the overall culture continues to play an integral role in players’ decisions.

For Finn Callaghan, the Giants’ culture, and their strong recent record, played a significant part in his decision to turn down more money and stay at GWS. Picture: Phil Hillyard

Since joining the club as list manager in 2018, McCartney has seen his fair share of top-end talent such as Jye Caldwell and Tanner Bruhn head back to Victoria. But he feels now more than ever the Giants’ winning culture is convincing players to stay.

The difficult balance can then be convincing players on the fringe of the squad that they will eventually get to be a part of that success.

“Your environment needs to be spot on and players need to have a genuine feeling they’re a chance of winning,” he said. “Without that, that makes it hard to get those re-signings.

“(You have to) make the most of that now and extend that core group out as far and as many as we can within the realms of what we’re working within the salary cap. Premierships are hard to win, but you’ve got to demonstrate that, “Hey, we’re in the mix here’.

“We’re wrapped that Finn wanted to stay, but also that we could get something done this early because we’re trying to win a premiership this year. You don’t want it to be a distraction for anyone.”

Originally published as AFL’s longest contracts: GWS list boss Jason McCartney on why more clubs are offering long-term deals than ever before