Not the most reliable of footy news sources but SNF reckons Lids will most likely stay at Tigerland.
Franklin could be biggest free agentBy Kim Hagdorn
SportsNewsFirst
12 January 2012 01:45PM ESTHAWTHORN sensation Lance Franklin is looming as the biggest superstar on the market when the AFL introduces free agency transfers for players later this year.
Franklin turns 25 in late January and is of contract at the end of the 2012 season.
The goal-kicking superstar and one of the most influential game breakers in the AFL will complete his eighth season this year and become eligible for what the league’s new system will call “restricted” free agency.
The 2008 Hawks premiership hero and Coleman medallist will be a red-hot top priority to any club on the verge of winning a flag and with salary cap space to target such a potential match-winner.
It is understood that Franklin’s management has already indicated to Hawks heavyweights that the game’s most dominant scoring force is most likely to delay any new contract talks until the end of the season.
Franklin will be a player who is in Hawthorn’s top 25 per cent of earnings and cannot simply head to a new club of his choice without Hawks management being allowed to make a counter offer.
If the Hawks can match any other offer to Franklin within their salary cap and additional services agreements to pay their superstar big man, then the powerhouse left-footer would stay with Hawthorn.
Players who have given 10 years of service to their existing club will be allowed to move without any restriction.
That category is deemed by the league as an "unrestricted" free agent and can move to any club of thei choice irrespective of their deal.
Any player who has given eight years of service but is not being paid inside his club’s top 25 per cent, which is about nine players on a list, is also declared as an “unrestricted free” agent.
A player like Franklin who has played eight seasons and is out of contract will be subjected to a counter offer from his existing club Hawthorn to any new deal available to move to another franchise.
St Kilda hard-nut veteran Brendan Goddard will be a top priority free agent who can move to any new club of his choice without any counter offer from the Saints.
The league’s new free-agency system has three categories for players to potentially move with less restriction than ever before under the draft and trade process.
The new free-agency agreement will only apply to players who have served at least eight seasons at the same club, while a decade on the one list will allow unrestricted free movement.
Goddard, 26, has constantly been linked with a switch to new club Greater Western Sydney when he is out of contract.
The 185-game veteran also continues to be closely tied with his former coach Ross Lyon, who has switched to Fremantle after a five-year stint at the Saints.
Classy Richmond midfielder Brett Deledio also continues to be touted as a possible target to leave the Tigers as a “restricted” agent if any new offer isn’t matched.
Deledio, 25, is most likely to agree to a new deal and stay at the emerging Tigers.Franklin or Goddard will be top priorities for negotiation with Fremantle in the west as Lyon makes his mark on the previously under-achieving Dockers who continue to maintain their premiership potential within the next two to three years.
The Dockers still have significant room in salary cap juggling to confront any bidding war for an ace forward after failing in a bitter battle last October for out-of-contract Brisbane big forward Mitch Clark.
The power-forward ended up at Melbourne on a lucrative four-year contract package.
http://www.sportsnewsfirst.com.au/articles/2012/01/12/franklin-could-be-biggest-free-agent/
