AFL players on front and back-ended deals won’t be unfairly disadvantaged by pay cuts
AFL players including Jack Martin and Jeremy Cameron are on massively front and back-ended deals. So how will they be affected by the hefty pay cuts? The AFL has provided some clarity to player managers.
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Player managers are confident AFL stars on massively back-ended deals like Jack Martin and Jeremy Cameron will not be unfairly disadvantaged by competition-wide pay cuts.
The AFL have made it clear to agents they are prepared to have discussions on special exemptions for players who have agreed to contracts with cash loaded into one specific season.
The Herald Sun understands the league could apply the coming pay cuts to the average wage of those players across the life of the contract instead of the 2020 portion of their wage.
Carlton’s Jack Martin was to accept a five-season deal on $600,000 but instead took more than $1 million of his salary up front to scare away rivals in the pre-season draft at Carlton’s request.
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Players will take pay cuts that could go past 35 per cent of their total 2020 wages depending on a return to footy.
So without an exemption Martin could be hit with an extra $150,000 of pay cuts above those already applied on his average contract because of his lopsided wage.
Similarly GWS star Jeremy Cameron would have the pay cuts applied to $1.6 million of his 2020 wage instead of the $1 million average wage over the life of his long-term contract.
Players whose contracts vary by small margins in separate years are likely to have to accept that they will have to sacrifice a little more or less.
But given Martin had to lodge his initial asking figure with AFL salary cap guru Ken Wood as a pre-season draft condition, the league is fully aware of his contract before it was front-ended.
The league has told player managers it can only consider the ramifications of those front and back-ended deals later in the year when it becomes clear how much football can be played.
Players have received the first five months of their salaries and will take a 50 per cent pay cut for the sixth and seventh months of their deals.
From then on they will take a 70 per cent pay cut if football does not get away again or 50 per cent pay cuts once footy returns.
Many players are happy to accept differing payments over the life of their contract to help clubs which have more or less cap space than the competition average.
West Coast’s Tim Kelly is likely to have accepted a back-ended deal to fit into the Eagles’ pay structure, while Mitch McGovern’s deal would likely have been front-ended given the Blues’ cap space.
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Originally published as AFL players on front and back-ended deals won’t be unfairly disadvantaged by pay cuts
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