Next Monday, October 8 the AFL Trade Period will commence and this will run until 2:00pm on Friday October 26.
How does free agency work?
Players can change clubs without going through the process of a trade or the draft. A concept that has long been a part of American sports, free agents fall in the category of unrestricted or restricted. To be eligible, players must be out of contract and have spent at least eight full seasons at one club.?
Restricted versus unrestricted?An unrestricted free agent can automatically move to the club of his choice while an offer to a restricted free agent can be matched by his club, which has right of first refusal over his services. A restricted free agent is one that is in the top 25 per cent highest-paid players at his club while an unrestricted free agent is in the bottom 75 per cent or has spent at least 10 years at his club.?
Which Carlton Players are Free Agents?
Jordan Russell and Bret Thornton are the only two Carlton players who are free agents, both unrestricted free agents. Both Jordan and Bret have advised the Club they will look at options available to them through free agency.
Restricted Free Agents
Angus Monfries (Essendon); Brent Moloney (Melbourne); Troy Chaplin, Danyle Pearce (Port Adelaide); Luke McGuane (Richmond) and Brendan Goddard (St Kilda)
Unrestricted Free Agents
Chris Knights (Adelaide); Jordan Russell, Bret Thornton (Carlton); Ben Johnson (Collingwood); Ricky Dyson, Dustin Fletcher, David Hille, Nathan Lovett-Murray, Henry Slattery (Essendon); Luke McPharlin (Fremantle); Shannon Byrnes, Josh Hunt (Geelong); Thomas Murphy, Michael Osborne, Clinton Young (Hawthorn); Matthew Bate, Lynden Dunn, Jared Rivers (Melbourne); Brett Ebert, Steven Salopek, Jacob Surjan (Port Adelaide); Jason Blake, Raphael Clarke (St Kilda); Jude Bolton, Jarred Moore (Sydney Swans); Quinten Lynch, Mark Nicoski (West Coast); Will Minson (Western Bulldogs)
Compensation
Clubs will be compensated by way of draft picks if they are deemed to have a net loss in the free agency period. The compensation falls into one of five categories - a first-round pick immediately following the club's first round pick, an end of first-round pick, a second-round pick immediately after the club's second round pick, an end of second-round pick or a third-round pick immediately after the club's third round selection.
How the System operates for players with less than 8 years service
A player has served seven seasons or less of AFL football at one club, and is now out of contract is not eligible for free agency if his club wishes to retain him. He may only move clubs via a trade or the Draft. If he delists himself, he is subject to the Draft, and may be selected by any club.
A player has served seven seasons or less of AFL football at one club, and has been delisted by his club is a Free Agent and is eligible to field offers from all rival AFL clubs. He must decide on the best offer of his choice from one rival club and can move automatically to the new club of his choice. His original club, which chose to delist him, does not receive any compensation pick for the loss of a player.
