Salary cap is a thing.
I doubt that Collingwood is constrained by salary... But as a list, we should be struggling to make the minimum. You pay people for when they perform, if you pay them big dollars beyond their worth at aged 20 when they aren't doing much, you get stuck when they are 24 and performing well and want a payrise. With the culling of our list, we are losing veterans and have an increasingly "yoofier" list.
Maynes contract from a Freo perspective would be to make up what the AFL requires from us as the minimum salary cap (and/or up to max cap) on the proviso that we get something useful to us. We'd all agree, that on many years of form, we aren't getting anything from Mayne himself*, so with picks to take the salary pressure off of Collingwood that works for us as we could use the picks - if losing salary space works for Collingwood.
* as for Maynes form. Have some pity on the poor bugger. He played his heart out for us, you could never accuse him of being lazy. He was a medium sized forward that had to play tall in a team short on tall forwards and was always going to struggle in that role. Yes, his goal shooting (well, words are beggared beyond belief at his best and his worst). If he didn't have the pressure of playing 2nd forward instead of what he is - a mid sized forward, his yips might never have become an issue, that was a bucket load of pressure to put on someone. Up to you folk, you are all adults (except for those that aren't), he bled purple, keep it nice and don't pay out too much on him if we get him as a Peel player and some picks - and a Starlight ambassador to boot.