If end up with draft picks and especially draft picks for next year we have lost and are acting like we are in rebuild mode
We are taking 2-3 picks to the draft, we traded for a player on the edge of our 22 and a best 22 player via free agency, we are cutting our losses early and lancing a boil that caused off-field issues in 2017. Looks like we are in top-up mode.
We already lost the Stringer situation when we couldn't rehabilitate him this year. That's on him, not us, but it's still a loss. We doubly lost the Stringer situation when the only club that was interested in him was Essendon. Not even St Kilda considered him.
The offer Essendon has lobbed is awful, but we obviously are going to trade him because we sadly won't have him back. That's on Jake, not us.
Lance a boil and move on. Jake's personal failings and inability to respond to feedback have cost us, and him, a very successful career here. We move on with less disharmony and anything salvaged is a bonus.
If you thought this was going to end well, you obviously weren't paying attention.