MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - NOVEMBER 16: Jaidyn Stephenson poses for a photo during a North Melbourne Kangaroos AFL media opportunity at Arden Street Ground on November 16, 2020 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)
An AFL club list manager believes the league could be full of team's facing the same dilemma as Collingwood did in this year's trade period in the coming years as they back-end contracts due to next season's salary cuts.
The AFL and it's Players Association agreed to total player payments for 2021 this month, with the margin being cut by nine per cent and players set to take on a 3.5 per cent pay cut on average.
Many clubs have been left frustrated after the league decided to leave clubs in charge of renegotiating contracts to align with the new salary cap.
One list manager, who has decided to remain anonymous, has warned the AFL of the potential consequences of having to renegotiate player contracts individually.
“The advice from the AFL is to just back-end contracts to get under the cap. Fine. We will have 18 Collingwoods next year with everyone forced to push the problem down the road,” the list manager told The Age's Michael Gleeson.
“We have worked for years to get our cap under control and keep it under control – as have other clubs – and the AFL advice is to blow it up again.
“We traded in good faith for draft picks that we may not be able to use because they announced these cuts after the trade period and the reality is we may not be able to bring in as many players.”
The Magpies were forced to offload contracted trio Adam Treloar, Jaidyn Stephenson and Tom Phillips earlier this month due to a tight salary cap squeeze, decisions that angered Collingwood fans.