Free Agency

[NoMore]

I realise that most people are totally against this and to be honest most don't truly understand how Free Agency will work in Australia or how it works in sports around the world. Our model is similar to the the NFL with out the stupid sized contracts and has no similarities to the EPL way which players move.

If we delist a player that has played less than 7 seasons he becomes an unrestricted free agent. If he does not agree to terms with us and we wanted to keep him then he must go into the draft the same way it used to happen.

A player who has played 8 seasons or more and is in the top 25% of his clubs paid players will become a Restricted Free Agent which means as has happened with Goddard we are able to supply an offer then he is able to field offers from other clubs during the Free Agency period. Once an offer is put forward we then have 3 days to match this offer. If we cannot match this offer or choose not to he is free to move. If we match the offer he may still seek a trade or enter the National Draft and take his chances on where he goes. If he leaves in anyway the club may recieve a compensation pick.

If a player has played 8 seasons or more and is not in the top 25% then he can field offers during the Free Agancy Period. He is then able to choose which club he goes to as an Unrestricted Free Agent. As with a Restricted Free Agent the club from which he has left may recieve a compensatory pick in the draft.

What we must remember is that the club recieves a pick or multiple picks based on everything that happens to the club during free agency. If the St Kilda were to pick up a player of equal value to Goddard we would recieve no compensatory pick. If we pick up a player who is of half Goddards value then we may receive a second round pick instead of a first. All these people that are simply assuming we will get Pick 13 need to wait and see what happens during the rest of Free Agency.

What i don't think people realise that in most sports Free Agency is not a magical cure for poor drafting. Paying a player an exhorbentit amount does very little in a sport like AFL. What you see if you look around the world at sports with free agency already at work is that it is the teams that pay their players what they are worth to the team not what they are worth on the open market that are the successful franchises. I think if you look to the NFL teams that are successful such as the Giants, Patriots, Packers and Steelers are teams who don't often spend alot of money during free agency. They tend to chase value over star power.

We have all watched enough AFL to know that one player doesn't make a team. Essendone will pay on average $725,000 a year for Goddard. I'm not sure anyone thinks that he is worth that. To be honest i was worried that our $633,000 offer was a little too much for what he has produced over the last 2 years. We are not paying Goddard for what he has produced in the past we would be paying him for what he will produce when he is 31.

The only issue i have with the AFL model of Free Agency is maybe we should have a Franchise Tag for clubs to use as a way of keeping players for 1 year which see's that player play on a certain amount of money that is a reflection of players that play their position and what those players are on money wise. For instance a midfielder may be Franchised at a price of $750,000 for a year while a key faorward may be Franchised at $900,000. I think this would be fair for both player and club.

I think we need to say Go Saints and remember it is a new era and we barrack for a club not a player

[Legendary]

Brilliant post.

Very well put.

Particularly these bits:

I think if you look to the NFL teams that are successful such as the Giants, Patriots, Packers and Steelers are teams who don't often spend alot of money during free agency. They tend to chase value over star power.

We have all watched enough AFL to know that one player doesn't make a team. Essendone will pay on average $725,000 a year for Goddard. I'm not sure anyone thinks that he is worth that. To be honest i was worried that our $633,000 offer was a little too much for what he has produced over the last 2 years. We are not paying Goddard for what he has produced in the past we would be paying him for what he will produce when he is 31.

I think we need to say Go Saints and remember it is a new era and we barrack for a club not a player

It's about the team and the club.