Moneyball: All the trade, draft and contract news around the AFL

Melbourne’s latest play to keep Kysaiah Pickett looks to have worked with the star Demon set to re-sign with the club on an extraordinary pay packet.

Kysaiah Pickett is on the brink of striking a new nine-year deal at Melbourne that would see him paid $1.4 million a season and a total haul of $12.5 million.

The Herald Sun revealed on Sunday the Demons had offered him a long-term contract extension as part of their pitch to lock the star talent away long-term.

That deal is now highly likely to be signed in coming days if the two parties can agree on the fine print of some small contract details.

It is a massive coup for Melbourne given Pickett and parter Ardu Cubillo have long coveted a move to Perth.

The Demons are moving to secure Kysaiah Pickett long-term. Picture: Getty Images

But that deal will be as lucrative as any in modern football and perhaps the most expensive in the current game given its yearly average.

Pickett has two years on his current contract to 2027 but will in effect scrap those contracted seasons - where he is paid less than $1m - for a totally new deal through to 2034.

It is understood Pickett could earn more at the Demons than he could at Fremantle because of the Dockers’ reasonably tight salary.

Pickett soccers through a beauty on King’s Birthday

It is an incredible turnaround within months for Pickett, who began the season admitting he was homesick and texting Fremantle players suggesting he wanted to be a Docker in 2025.

It will also put paid to any suggestions Luke Jackson will return to play for Melbourne.

The 24-year-old was seriously weighing up whether to play alongside great friends at Fremantle, including Quinton Narkle, or to remain with the Demons.

The Demons continue to work behind the scenes with its Indigenous welfare officer Matthew Whelan to try and make Pickett - who is in career-best form - as comfortable as he can be in the city of Melbourne.

Both Fremantle and Melbourne are aware a Pickett trade involving Luke Jackson was off the table, given the Dockers’ determination to retain their generational ruckman long-term.

Pickett has been at his brilliant best since returning be from a suspension and in fact has taken his game to a new level playing more midfield time.

He kicked two incredible goals in the one point loss to Collingwood including a soccered goal form long range.

Tom De Koning has a huge decision to make on his future. Picture: Michael Klein

MATES OR MILLIONS?

They will write songs about Tom De Koning if he stays at Carlton.

The King of Carlton, who rejected St Kilda’s 10 million dollar bounty.

The most loyal man in footy, who passed up $5 million extra to remain a one-club player at Ikon Park.

Matter of fact, England’s greatest pop star Robbie Williams has already penned a ditty about the Blues ruckman.

“De Koning’s in the air, everywhere I look around,” he crooned after De Koning’s finals performance in 2023.

No one wrote songs about St Kilda’s players after their 2023 elimination final loss to GWS.

But as De Koning considers his future it has become clear that while staying put will make him a beloved Carlton cult hero, it will not come with a lasting financial benefit.

Or certainly not one that would come anywhere near bridging the $600,000 a year financial gap between the Carlton offer and St Kilda’s deal.

While a new marketing deal brokered by the AFLPA will allow three players per club to secure a financial windfall, there isn’t enough money in the game for players to truly cash in off-field.

A handful of out-and-out stars can make a nice chunk of change with marketing deals, including Nick Daicos, Marcus Bontempelli, Patrick Cripps, Harley Reid, Christian Petracca, Bailey Smith and one day Nick Watson.

But with requirements around third-party payments so tight, player managers are unable to secure their clients’ deals that come anywhere near replicating their million dollar plus salaries.

De Koning was one of the best on the ground against Essendon. Picture: Michael Klein

They might be able to secure several hundred thousand in quality endorsements, but nothing like the difference between $1.1 million and $1.7 million a year.

Those handful of truly marketable stars need it all – premiership success, a unique point of difference, a contract with a power club like Collingwood whose fanbase can magnify their appeal.

But there are only a few Dustin Martins who can launch national campaigns in any generation.

For De Koning having a Carlton premiership on his resume would be more important than the aura around having stayed put through extraordinary loyalty.

De Koning is still tossing up the simplest equation – staying with mates at Carlton who he loves or accepting generational money from St Kilda.

He is also keen to know whether Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera will remain at St Kilda given his key role in the club’s future success.

So Wanganeen-Milera’s signature would be a real coup for the Saints in more ways than one.

He might love his mates, but does he love them to the tune of $5 million?

DRAFT CONCERNS

Club recruiters fear that this year’s national draft – and the Victorian draft pool – is one of the weakest in memory in a year where Richmond and Essendon have multiple first round picks.

Vic Metro was smashed in their first Under 18 championships game by South Australia, while Vic Country was also beaten by WA.

Multiple recruiters told the Herald Sun they were worried by the lack of elite talent in the Victorian pool as they continue to push the AFL to boost funding in the Coates League.

New football performance boss Greg Swann will have control of the talent pathways when he takes over and clubs will urge him to invest in Victorian football.

They have now been shut out of northern markets given academies and while last year’s draft was a blockbuster the open pool of players continues to shrink.

Clubs continue to snap up players who have come through established pathways because one of their parents was born overseas, with former SANFL star Greg Mellor’s son Jesse academy-linked to Geelong.

Victorian clubs have made submissions to the AFL and made urgent requests to former football boss Laura Kane to prioritise investment in the Coates League given the modest talent on show.

Josh Sinn. Picture: Getty Images

ALL-IN SINN

Port Adelaide’s first-round pick Josh Sinn is keen to commit his future at the Power after stringing together games this year.

The No. 12 pick had battled groin complaints and a broken collarbone and also endured hamstring surgery in his four years at the club.

But he has played a career-high nine games so far this year and despite persistent speculation about a return to Victoria he is keen to stay.

The Xavier Grammar boy was taken by Port Adelaide when they moved up two spots to get ahead of Essendon in the 2021 national draft.

The Power has re-signed Kane O’Farrell and has put a mega-offer to Miles Bergman, who St Kilda and Geelong are chasing.

So while talks are yet to progress Sinn’s desire to stay is a huge positive for incoming coach Josh Carr.

Zach Reid has been rewarded with a new deal. Picture: Getty Images

BOMBER GOING NOWHERE

Essendon has locked away Zach Reid on a three-year deal to take him through to free agency.

As flagged by the Herald Sun last month, that deal will pay him handsomely but also include a range of incentives that will give him more upside if he stays out on the park.

His latest hamstring injury will put him out for more than a month, with Reid having played only 19 games across five seasons.

He said on Tuesday he was thrilled to be locked away at Essendon.

“I’m incredibly grateful the club stood by me, and I’m so happy I could repay their trust,” Reid said.

“I really believe in where this club is headed, and I’m genuinely excited about what this group can achieve together. I love working with this playing group, coaches and all staff; we’ve got so much potential, and I’m keen to see us truly reach it.”