CAPPING long-term contracts will be put to club bosses by the AFL at next week’s CEOs conference as the League considers the benefits of the significant change.
Club chief executive officers will meet on the Gold Coast next Monday and Tuesday for their annual summit with the League, where a range of topics, including the fixture and competition structure, will be discussed and debated about the future of the game.
AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon is set to pose the question to clubs about whether a cap on long-term deals in the next Collective Bargaining Agreement would benefit the game, with the players’ current pay deal finishing at the end of the 2027 season.
The explosion in long-term deals for players has previously raised concern for the AFL, particularly with deals that span years past the current broadcast rights agreement that finishes in 2031, with some long-term contracts potentially going across three different CBAs, where the salary cap space of clubs remains uncertain.
The last time Dillon raised the concept of capping lengths of deals there was some reluctance from clubs to add more restrictions. A nominal maximum length of six years has been floated.
Carlton’s Sam Walsh’s eight-year deal has been the longest contract signed this year, seeing him join Melbourne’s Kysaiah Pickett and Fremantle’s Caleb Serong in committing to their clubs until the end of 2034.
Adelaide’s Josh Worrell, Fremantle’s Hayden Young, North Melbourne’s Paul Curtis and St Kilda’s Tom De Koning are signed until the end of 2033, while there are nine players signed until the end of 2032 (Connor Idun, Sam Taylor, Jai Newcombe, Luke Davies-Uniacke, Connor Rozee, Max King, Noah Balta, Aaron Naughton, Sam Durham).
A further 12 players – Darcy Fogarty, Andrew Brayshaw, Brent Daniels, Tristan Xerri, Sam Flanders, Nick Blakey, Justin McInerney, Oscar Allen, Hugh McCluggage, Cam Rayner, Jacob Weitering and the recently signed Demon Kade Chandler – are signed until the end of 2031.
Carlton’s Sam Walsh at Ikon Park on February 24, 2026. Picture: AFL Photos
The League’s new list management boss Justin Reid, who was the former Adelaide list manager, said the upcoming meeting with clubs would give the AFL a guide on whether to push ahead in trying to put a cap on deal lengths.
“I know the CEOs and AFL are coming together at the conference on the Gold Coast and I think that will be high on the agenda. I know we’re working closely with the players’ association in regards to what the next CBA looks like,” Reid told Gettable last week.
“If you look at world sport, AFL player contracts are the most protected contracts across the world, which is fantastic for the playing group. The players put themselves out there and at risk, so there’s a balance between the risk that clubs take and also giving that security to players and [finding] that happy medium.”
Club list bosses are regularly of the view that they are bound to sign players to their long-term contracts given stars will threaten to leave for long deals at rival clubs if they don’t, which has set the market for the record-breaking contracts being signed and offered.
Hawthorn last year offered a 11-year deal to Harley Reid before he recommitted to the Eagles, in a sign of the lengths clubs are going to in order to try and pry players out of clubs.
Adelaide chief executive Tim Silvers earlier this year said the longer-term deals were required by clubs to retain their talent and attract rivals, but that they should be assessed by the AFL.
“It is becoming more the norm, especially when you get to free agency and the pressure and the market forces push you up. Myself, as the CEO, is somewhat uncomfortable with the length of these contracts, especially because they go past the current broadcast rights agreement and you don’t have certainty there,” Silvers told AFL.com.au in March.
“I do have a view it should be considered to cap contracts, but I understand it’s going to be very difficult with restraint of trade and how we get that done with the players’ association.
AFL Players’ Association CEO James Gallagher. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos
“Market forces just continue to push it up and if you don’t, as a footy club, make a decision to secure your talent on the long-term, then someone else is going to swoop through. It’s dictated by the market and we’re all in it. You just have to play it smart and to your club’s advantage.”
New AFL Players Association boss James Gallagher, in an interview with AFL.com.au in February, was resolute that he “can’t see that happening”.
“Putting greater restrictions in place is unlikely. I don’t think the longer-term contracts are a problem. I appreciate there are some out there that have a view they are. Restraints and restrictions aren’t necessarily the solution,” he said.
“If the AFL or clubs through the CBA discussions think longer-term contracts are a problem, again we don’t necessarily buy into that, but there may be different incentives that could be put in place and we might be up for that conversation. But I don’t imagine capping contracts is something we’re going to be up for.
