2026 Trade / FA Thread

[Apex36]

Zac Bailey is a gun. Is he the type of player we need though?
Is he a key defender or additional gun mid to pair with Nick?

Yes. Only reason he’s not full time mid at Brisbane is because they’re stacked.

 

[magpies2013]

Port have the salary cap to match any offer for Butters so a club will be forced to do a trade. It would cost at least 2 1st rounders and more. Better off going for Ben King

34

Ben King

Age

25

Ht

202cm

Wt

98kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

7.2

2star

K

5.0

2star

HB

2.2

2star

M

3.5

4star

T

0.5

3star

G

1.3

5star

D

7.5

2star

K

5.6

2star

HB

1.9

1star

M

3.6

4star

T

0.3

1star

G

1.5

5star

D

6.8

2star

K

4.4

2star

HB

2.4

3star

M

3.2

4star

T

0.2

3star

G

1.0

4star

. GC won’t have the cap space to match offer we then get him for nothing and keep our draft picks to use on kids

 

[BEEG]

Port have the salary cap to match any offer for Butters so a club will be forced to do a trade. It would cost at least 2 1st rounders and more. Better off going for Ben King. GC won’t have the cap space to match offer we then get him for nothing and keep our draft picks to use on kids

If Port are bottom 4 they are not matching unless the club is like Melbourne Nth

Teams around the 1st -10th mark they won't match.

 

[Jen2310]

Port have the salary cap to match any offer for Butters so a club will be forced to do a trade. It would cost at least 2 1st rounders and more. Better off going for Ben King. GC won’t have the cap space to match offer we then get him for nothing and keep our draft picks to use on kids

Last I read GC are prepared to offer king 7 years x 1.4M
But anything more than that they prob can’t match.

 

[Jen2310]

If Port are bottom 4 they are not matching unless the club is like Melbourne Nth

Teams around the 1st -10th mark they won't match.

With compo picks now gonna start from pick 10 if you are on the bottom. So if you are 15th, you would get pick 13

 

[OEP MKII]

If Port are bottom 4 they are not matching unless the club is like Melbourne Nth

Teams around the 1st -10th mark they won't match.

I don't see how Port don't match any bid on Butters. Unlike Brisbane they aren't absolutely stacked at the midfield position and Butters is clearly their best midfielder. They don't match the bid and have to see what the revised compensation system gives them or match the bid and force a bidding war where they'll almost certainly get a lot more.
Plus there's no downside to them matching any bid, worst case scenario they keep Butters in a team with strong foundations but lacking some extra star power (no pun intended).

 

[stormskye]

Port will match.
If we can entice King for salary cap alone I’m keen. We will have a bit freed up with our age profile changing over next few season. Could prob front load a bit. If it means we can use picks on mids or a KPD then it will go a long way to refreshing the list on the fly

 

[Pistol Night]

Port will match.
If we can entice King for salary cap alone I’m keen. We will have a bit freed up with our age profile changing over next few season. Could prob front load a bit. If it means we can use picks on mids or a KPD then it will go a long way to refreshing the list on the fly

Spot on. Look at Geelong with Dangerfield, Cameron, Smith etc. You can buck the rebuilding trend with aggressive FA targets. (And dodgey land and ambassador deals but sshhhhhhh on that one)

 

[Soups]

Get the welcome thread ready David.

 

[Pistol Night]

Get the welcome thread ready David.

How fitting if we get Butters while poor old Carlton get Jimmy and Timmy every year

 

[magpies2013]

If Port are bottom 4 they are not matching unless the club is like Melbourne Nth

Teams around the 1st -10th mark they won't match.

Port will match 100%

 

[Dead Eye Didak]

I'm back on the King bandwagon. After today's game we are going to need a genuine key forward to compete against the best. West looks a mile off. Buller will need to improve and McStay is always going to be McStay. I actually think Howes has the most upside. Now don't be mean to old man8c, it's an opinions game

Yeah, l'm in the King over Butters recruitment. As l have mentioned before, l think Darcy and King, possibly Thilthorpe, are the most likely to kick 100 goals in a season of the modern day forwards.
I think our forward line is a concern going forward. Mihocek gone, Membrey you feel will be retired off after this season, along with Elliott who has 2 more years.
Buller l'm not thinking is going to be the saviour. He maybe handy, but he's either going to be handy or just not up to it. I'm not sure what the middle ground of those two rankings is, hopefully more handy then dud.
I think with King, we can team him up with a West and Buller, having Elliott for at least a year, alongside Hayes, whilst continuing to develop McCarthy and Saxena, as forward options, has potential to be a good forward mix. Not forgetting DeGoey could be playing as a permanent forward or at least 60% as a forward from this year. We also will or won't have Hill in the forward mix.
l didn't include McStay as l would like to see him return to his junior days and play as a CHB. McStay has a very good pair of hands, and obviously has the strength to take on the big power forwards. Moving him back could free up Moore to just be an interceptor, particularly when Howe is gone after this season.
I think our midfield has options. We obviously have Naicos, we can have Jaicos, McCreery and Allan as part of the midfield rotations. Prindable and Anderson can develop into good mids, l believe, for us. Swadling impresses as a guy who can play mid or forward, and of course DeGoey as 60/40 split forward/mid. Long and Steele also as part of the midfield rotation. So l'm comfortable with that.
If Hills remaining contract is able to be somehow removed after an agreed one off payout figure, under special circumstances, similar to how the Bulldogs handled the remaining year/s on the Jamarra contract with them, then maybe we can create space for 2 big name free agents. Also considering Pendles, Howe and Sidey, along with Membrey may well be off the books at the end of this year....

 

[sr36]

If Port are bottom 4 they are not matching unless the club is like Melbourne Nth

Teams around the 1st -10th mark they won't match.

Somewhere in the press the other day it said that the first 8 picks are going to be protected. I'm assuming that means that even if Port finish last, the best compo pick they can get will be pick 9. If that's the case, surely they'll match to get a better trade deal than pick 9.

 

[Go Woods]

Last I read GC are prepared to offer king 7 years x 1.4M
But anything more than that they prob can’t match.

We retire off Howe, Pendles and maybe Steele end of year, there's almost $2M between all three, plus anyone else that goes/delisted etc....
Butters and King come on down...

 

[tmpies01]

I beg to disagree re Joel Cochran.

I liked his game against GWS but my gut feel is he would need a more convincing performance against North, and naturally a spot to be available for him to slot in for a debut.

North is the one final dress rehearsal.

 

[Ted Parker]

Yeah, l'm in the King over Butters recruitment. As l have mentioned before, l think Darcy and King, possibly Thilthorpe, are the most likely to kick 100 goals in a season of the modern-day forwards.

l didn't include McStay as l would like to see him return to his junior days and play as a CHB. McStay has a very good pair of hands, and obviously has the strength to take on the big power forwards. Moving him back could free up Moore to just be an interceptor, particularly when Howe is gone after this season.

100-goal forwards are an anomaly when used in context of the modern era. The league hasn't had one since Buddy was still with the Hawks in 2008. Leading Goalkicker
If an aberration does occur, it'll be Charlie Curnow at the S.C.G sometime over the next 3 years.

If King was to arrive at Collingwood, it's for $$$ only. I want a heart and soul player. We needed a version of him during 22-25 seasons, where with him or similar he would have been our Tom Lynch. Do we want Tom Lynch now? No.
A pairing with McStay does have appeal, but that said, 140 goals from a triumvirate of Thilthorpe, Fogarty and Walker couldn't get Adelaide past a home Qualifying Final and home Semi-Final.
Without a bolt from the blue, our lack of midfield quality will soon have the blowtorch of scrutiny applied if we can't get first hands on the ball to feed a $1.5m a year Unicorn from 2027 onwards. Unicorn feed is expensive.
Buller looms as another Jessie White.
West doesn't yet have a senior football fitness base for repeated second efforts against the league's best back-men.

So, it remains McStay and hope second for our talls in 2026.
If McInnes belies expectations and becomes a reliable play maker, at least it'd offer us versatility to move Howe back forward should the need present (& it will).

I still view allocating the King type $$$ to Jake Riccardi and Bayley Fritsch will give us better longer service than King alone.
As for any notion to lure Butters, has anyone seriously considered what it'll cost in draft / player capital to bring him in? Why this year's wooden spooner is in the perfect spot to make a bombshell play for Zak Butters

My preference would be to explore what it'll take to access Restricted Free Agents Matt Rowell or Noah Anderson at the end of 2027, whom will still be very much in their prime (I'd prefer Anderson). As RFAs, we wouldn't need to burn draft capital.
We know a duo of this will happen; it's just a question of the mix and getting one of them out of the Suns.


I really think 2028/9 are our next flag windows and we start preparing our draft picks and cap spend accordingly.

 

[Harry O]

I'll remind you of that a bit down the track.

I was only talking about Opening Round I hope you realise

 

[granniewolf]

I was only talking about Opening Round I hope you realise

Nope, that wasn't clear