By Michael Chammas, Dan Walsh and Christian Nicolussi
Dylan Brown will leave Parramatta to take up a 10-year deal to join Newcastle from next year.
The Eels were told on Monday afternoon that their five-eighth would be departing the club at the end of the season, opting against triggering a lucrative option in his deal at Parramatta.
Instead, Brown will join the Knights on a contract worth around $14 million over 10 years. Brown, 24, will be 35 when he comes off contract.
Brown confirmed his move on Instagram on Monday night saying: “I have decided to take an opportunity that is best for me and my family. To the Blue and Gold family … nothing changes. I’m locked in for this year and we have a job to do.”
His deal at the Eels is currently worth around $1.1 million a season, but the huge financial investment from the Knights proved too difficult to resist.
Under NRL rules, the Eels have 10 days to convince Brown to back out of the Newcastle deal now the offer has been submitted to the NRL.
Parramatta’s Dylan Brown on the attack against Newcastle. He could potentially be playing for the Knights next year.Credit: Getty Images
Brown’s decision came just 24 hours after new Eels coach Jason Ryles endured a horror start to his tenure, with a 56-18 thumping at the hands of his former club Melbourne.
The New Zealand international’s management had sought a bump up in Brown’s deal in return for removing the player options in his contract, but the Eels weren’t prepared to pay more than his current seven-figure salary.
The club recently extended injured captain Mitchell Moses on a new $6.5 million, five-year deal that included a sizeable upgrade while removing his own player options and keeps him until the end of 2029.
Brown stood to earn around $6.6 million across the remainder of his Parramatta deal if he took up his player option, which was signed after their run to the 2022 grand final.
Lachlan Galvin looms as an obvious target for the Eels.Credit: Getty Images
“Dylan has been offered what I understand to be the biggest deal in NRL history from 2026 onwards,” Eels football manager Mark O’Neill said.
“Dylan is a class player, we understand his decision to take up the offer and no one could begrudge him for accepting this opportunity for him and his family.”
Parramatta will now be armed with more than $1 million to hit the player market for an elite half themselves.
The two best and most logical five-eighth replacements for Brown are Lachlan Galvin and Tyran Wishart, whose deals with the Wests Tigers and Melbourne Storm respectively expire at the end of 2026.
But both clubs were adamant they would not be releasing their players early.
Galvin spent time at the Eels, and is managed by the same agent who looks after halfback and captain Mitchell Moses.
It has not been forgotten that Galvin was also cut loose by Parramatta, who deemed him too small just a few years ago. The 19-year-old has held fire on talks around a long-term extension with the Tigers this year but is happy with the direction of the club alongside new halves partner Jarome Luai.
Wishart grew up in Gerringong, the same south coast town as Eels legend Mick Cronin, and is stranded behind Cameron Munster at the Storm.
“We’d love to keep Tyran long-term,” Storm chairman Matt Tripp said on Monday night. “We understand we could have a fight on our hands to do so, but we’ll do all we can to keep him as a Storm player — he’s an incredibly valuable player to us, and not one we want to lose.”
Wishart and Galvin are seen as future NSW Origin players, and will command good money when they negotiate their next deals.
Brown’s move to Newcastle, meanwhile, will see him join star fullback and captain Kalyn Ponga as seven-figure earners and two of the NRL’s highest-paid players.
Knights legend and NRL Immortal Andrew Johns said last week that he did not believe Brown has proven himself as a “main playmaker” at this point in his career, having worked with him as a halves consultant at Parramatta.
“I’ve worked with Dylan — great young fella, tough, trains hard ... but whether he’s got the tools to be a main playmaker I don’t know,” Johns said on Wide World of Sports.
Concerns have been raised about the impact of the deal on the Knights’ salary cap given Ponga and Brown will take up around $2.7-2.8 million a year – roughly 23 per cent of a club’s allocated spending on its roster.
Newcastle are in the process of turning over several large contracts, however, with hooker Jayden Brailey (earning above $600,000 this season) deep in negotiations with Canberra for 2026.
Prop Leo Thompson is joining Canterbury after knocking back a Knights extension worth $800,000 and halfback Jackson Hastings won’t be re-signed beyond this year.
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