So many of those Essendon players were f’ed over by the club's decision to pursue PED's but then they signed back on with the club. Whether it was loyalty, the added dollars / years it doesn't really matter.
They should have left. There was no mass exodus despite showing that their players were only assets. Hooker and Co can stay there and rot now.
I agree with your first two sentences but not sure about the letting them rot comment.
I don't want the older Bomber players at Freo but even if they got more cash they still stuck with their club through a pretty tough time.