Bulldog4life
01-03-2018, 11:49 AM
https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/boyd-deal-lets-important-bulldogs-off-the-leash-20180228-p4z26p.html
Front-loading player contracts to fit in highly priced recruit Tom Boyd could leave important Western Bulldogs premiership players as unrestricted free agents at the end of this year.
Midfield stars Tom Liberatore and Luke Dahlhaus are out of contract at the end of the season and are both free agents.
It is as yet uncertain whether they are restricted or unrestricted free agents as it is unknown whether they are in the top 25 per cent of money earners at the Bulldogs for the 2018 season.
Both players were among those who changed their contracts to help the club manage its salary cap to be able to recruit the former No. 1 pick from Greater Western Sydney on a significant deal.
When Boyd arrived at the club he was still on a lower, AFL-prescribed salary for second-year players in what was his first year at the Bulldogs, but then jumped into seven figures in subsequent years.
The players were among Dogs players who agreed to front-end their contracts – taking significantly more in the first year of their deals – when Boyd's money was low, and then their contracts would be comparatively lower in this, the final year of their contract.
Under AFL rules a player coming out of contract after eight seasons with a club is a free agent. If he is in the top 25 per cent of money-earners in the final year, he is a restricted free agent, but otherwise unrestricted.
Clubs have a right to match contract offers for their restricted free agents and if they do, then clubs have to trade for the free agent like any other out-of-contract player. Unrestricted free agents can walk to a club of their choosing without negotiating with their existing club.
The ruling on their status could prove to be moot as both Liberatore and Dahlhaus are expected to remain at the Bulldogs but their free-agency status significantly alters their leverage and so changes the tone of negotiations.
Clubs are more inclined to negotiate for an unrestricted free agent they believe they can secure for no draft compensation, as opposed to a player they need to trade for.
Melbourne was in a similar situation to the Bulldogs when full-back James Frawley left for Hawthorn as a free agent. Frawley had been outside the top 25 per cent of money-earners in the final year of his contract and so was unrestricted.
The mechanism to decide on the top 25 per cent – the highest-paid nine or 10 players – on a list is worked out on what a player is paid in the last year of his contract and is not averaged out over the life of the deal.
The Bulldogs are believed to have a relatively even payment structure after big earners Boyd and Marcus Bontempelli. Jackson Trengove came to the club on more than half a million dollars a year and both Easton Wood and Jason Johannisen signed significant deals, but there are a large number of players in the next bracket of earners.
The AFL is expected to release its list of restricted and unrestricted free agents in coming weeks.
Front-loading player contracts to fit in highly priced recruit Tom Boyd could leave important Western Bulldogs premiership players as unrestricted free agents at the end of this year.
Midfield stars Tom Liberatore and Luke Dahlhaus are out of contract at the end of the season and are both free agents.
It is as yet uncertain whether they are restricted or unrestricted free agents as it is unknown whether they are in the top 25 per cent of money earners at the Bulldogs for the 2018 season.
Both players were among those who changed their contracts to help the club manage its salary cap to be able to recruit the former No. 1 pick from Greater Western Sydney on a significant deal.
When Boyd arrived at the club he was still on a lower, AFL-prescribed salary for second-year players in what was his first year at the Bulldogs, but then jumped into seven figures in subsequent years.
The players were among Dogs players who agreed to front-end their contracts – taking significantly more in the first year of their deals – when Boyd's money was low, and then their contracts would be comparatively lower in this, the final year of their contract.
Under AFL rules a player coming out of contract after eight seasons with a club is a free agent. If he is in the top 25 per cent of money-earners in the final year, he is a restricted free agent, but otherwise unrestricted.
Clubs have a right to match contract offers for their restricted free agents and if they do, then clubs have to trade for the free agent like any other out-of-contract player. Unrestricted free agents can walk to a club of their choosing without negotiating with their existing club.
The ruling on their status could prove to be moot as both Liberatore and Dahlhaus are expected to remain at the Bulldogs but their free-agency status significantly alters their leverage and so changes the tone of negotiations.
Clubs are more inclined to negotiate for an unrestricted free agent they believe they can secure for no draft compensation, as opposed to a player they need to trade for.
Melbourne was in a similar situation to the Bulldogs when full-back James Frawley left for Hawthorn as a free agent. Frawley had been outside the top 25 per cent of money-earners in the final year of his contract and so was unrestricted.
The mechanism to decide on the top 25 per cent – the highest-paid nine or 10 players – on a list is worked out on what a player is paid in the last year of his contract and is not averaged out over the life of the deal.
The Bulldogs are believed to have a relatively even payment structure after big earners Boyd and Marcus Bontempelli. Jackson Trengove came to the club on more than half a million dollars a year and both Easton Wood and Jason Johannisen signed significant deals, but there are a large number of players in the next bracket of earners.
The AFL is expected to release its list of restricted and unrestricted free agents in coming weeks.