Essendon will let the dust settle after the sacking of coach Brad Scott before committing to any of the 13 players who remain without contracts beyond this season.
After extending injured forward Archer May, defender/ruck Lachie Blakiston, tough half-forward Archer Day-Wicks, defender Zak Johnson and Lewis Hayes (who suffered another ACL injury on the weekend) beyond 2026 earlier this season they are keeping their options open as the club navigates the year under interim coach Dean Solomon.
Three top-10 picks are among the uncontracted group, with Elijah Tsatas, Archie Perkins and Nik Cox without contracts beyond this season. The other players are free agents Jade Gresham, Jaxon Prior, Liam McMahon, Matt Guelfi and Will Setterfield, as well as Saad El-Hawli, Tom Edwards, Jayden Nguyen, Rhys Unwin and Kayle Gerreyn.
This column spoke to four competition sources (who wished to remain anonymous) to get a handle on Essendon’s approach to list management as their search for a new coach begins.
Tsatas, who was pick No.5 in the 2022 national draft, is likely to get an extended opportunity to prove his wares as the Bombers look at their list under Solomon’s tutelage.
He is keen to stay at the Bombers if he can show enough to remain, given Zach Merrett is still a strong chance to explore his options at season’s end. Only one player in the first 20 selections in the 2022 national draft – No.20 Jacob Konstanty – has changed clubs.
The past 20 of the durable Perkins’ 109 games at Essendon have been losses as the pick No.9 in the 2020 draft struggles to make an impression in his sixth season, while Cox’s determined return from concussion issues has seen him play four of the past five AFL matches in promising signs after he missed 2025.
The long list of injuries is also complicating list decisions as players are being forced to play in roles they are not necessarily suited to, while the coaching uncertainty has made it hard for players to flourish.
Essendon’s foundation of first-round draft picks are locked in until at least the end of 2028 with forward Nate Caddy extending his initial deal by two seasons while Sullivan Robey, Jacob Farrow and Dyson Sharp are all on the standard three-year deals now in place for players selected in the first round of the national draft.
Small forward Isaac Kako has been out injured but remains contracted until 2029 and the Bombers have been rapt with his development before he was sidelined with a stress fracture in his back.
Those signatures have given those players the chance to focus on football, rather than having to make decisions about their future amid uncertainty.
Merrett was offered an extension early in the season, which remains unsigned.
One of the reasons justifying the offer at the time was that a Merrett extension would provide some certainty to opposition players thinking of joining the club.
However, uncertainty is the only certainty at Essendon right now.
That will make the task of attracting top-quality players through trade and free agency difficult in the short-term, although it is only June, with trade sources saying the landscape may look very different once the coaching process is settled and the club knuckles down to finding the best coach available.
The Bombers made godfather offers to Hawthorn’s Josh Weddle and West Coast’s Harley Reid in an attempt to fast track their rebuild, but both players decided to stay at their clubs. They have significant room in their salary cap and are expected to continue to target quality opposition players, although they aren’t the first option for anyone right now.
Merrett will have suitors, but his trade value will be lower than it was last season when Hawthorn offered Henry Hustwaite, and picks No.10 and 22 and a late first-rounder this season.
Jordan Ridley is open to moving to Queensland with the Brisbane Lions a potential destination. Gold Coast are lukewarm at this stage, with defender Oscar Adams cementing a spot in the side and about to trigger a deal for next year.
Ridley, the 2020 best and fairest winner, is an excellent defender, but he has played just 21 matches since the start of 2024 after a wretched run of soft tissue injuries and turns 28 in October.
Feeding the Lions
The ball is in the Brisbane Lions’ court in relation to dual-premiership star Zac Bailey as the restricted free agent waits on the club to show what they are prepared to pay to keep him at the Gabba beyond 2026.
Bailey has interest from both South Australian clubs, with competition sources saying the Crows would be prepared to offer him $1.4 million a year to make the move.
The Lions would not necessarily have to match that figure to retain him, but have a difficult decision to make as they have an emerging group of young players who are attractive to other clubs if they show any willingness to leave.
The Bailey decision could also influence what the club could offer free agent Lachie Neale if the dual Brownlow medallist decided to remain in Brisbane. Neale has interest from Collingwood – who were one of a number of clubs interested in George Wardlaw before he re-signed last week with the Kangaroos – and two Perth clubs, but family will dictate Neale’s decision which is not likely until much later in the season.
Exciting forward Logan Morris is already on the radar of Tasmania and Victorian clubs as he is due to be out of contract at the end of 2027. He is obviously a required player at the Lions, but no movement to extend him is likely while the season is in progress.
The Lions are also keen to retain midfielder Sam Marshall, but talks have stalled there as the 20-year-old who played in last year’s premiership is desperate to play more senior football, having played just two AFL matches this season as coaches try to iron out some deficiencies in his game.
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