Clubs are reportedly set to strip bonuses to the recipients of best and fairest awards, reports AFL Media's Callum Twomey.
Players have a range of award incentives built into their contracts - like being All-Australian, winning a Brownlow and Coleman medal and being a part of a premiership side.
Best and fairest winners usually trigger a bonus of around $50,000, while clubs also reward top five and top 10 finishes.
However, in a bid to get under the salary cap for this year, Twomey reports that multiple clubs have reached out to players and managers as they seek to scrap best and fairest bonuses.
Players have faced with a 3.5% pay cut on average this year in the financial fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, while clubs have been given until February to make player payment adjustments.
Clubs are currently in the process of reworking deals with players, with back-ended deals another avenue to get under the revised total player payment.
The 2021 pre-season - dubbed the ‘AAMI Community Series’ - has been a slashed to a one-week event to reduce travel and kicks off on Wednesday March 3.