Collingwood is expecting to welcome Lachie Neale very early in the free agency period, while a deal for Jesse Hogan is all but confirmed.
Contracted players Jordan De Goey and Dan Houston were discussed, as was Harry DeMattia, who is keen to explore his options at rival clubs.
Richmond's Jayden Short is weighing up his options, with the Pies among a host of clubs pursuing the premiership Tiger.
And what about Bobby Hill's AFL revival?
Read up from Justin Leppitsch on AFL Trade Radio.
Lachie Neale
He's probably the best clearance player in the last 10 years. Good immediate fix for us.
Jesse Hogan
Everyone saw we had some key positions when Brody (Mihocek) left last year. We have some younger types which we are still bullish on for the future, but Jesse will help with his experience in that part of the ground.
Jayden Short
No, we haven't. No, I haven't got to that point with Richmond. Jayden is active. It's going to be one of those deals that, at this point, is a bit harder to do. That doesn't mean it doesn't happen, but there's a bit of work to go with that one.
Flynn Riley
Funny because we really wanted Flynn in the preseason draft, and we weren't even aware Carlton was going to have a pick till very, very late. But he's a Collington supporter, and he wants to play for the club, and he made that pretty clear to us from the get-go.
With him and his management, they were still very keen to continue the conversations with us, so that's how it came about.
And we just think he and Oscar, whenever Darcy's time comes, will be a great combination together in the future. You know what rucks are like; they take a bit of time. They're both he and Oscar are both 22, and Darcy still has some great footy left in him, so we're not kicking Darcy out or anything like that. But you've got to plan with the rucks.
Jordan De Goey
I would hope so (he's on our list). We're always trying to strike the balance. It's hard because you want to say he's not going anywhere,, but we also have to be open for business as well. We have had really mature conversations with Jordy and his management. At this point in time, there is no movement, and we expect him to be here next year.
If something happens this year that suits both parties, then great. If not, we go into next year, and we look to re-contract Jordy. We all know Tasmania are coming.
Dan Houston
That's the confusing part for us because there's been nothing showing up for us to Dan. It's been one of the ones we've been sort of constantly batting away. But again, like, you want to be open for business and stuff, but there's actually nothing to talk about. Just another club has spoken to us about Dan. So, yes, I can't see him going anywhere.
Bobby Hill
Harry DeMattia
Yeah, that's correct. I mean, Harry's obviously the first-round pick for us a few years ago, but he's watched some players go past him. He's looking for greater opportunity. And we just said to him, of course. At the selection table, we've not selected him on numerous occasions. We understand that he might be better off in a new environment. So we'll support whatever that looks like.
Overall AFL trade and draft strategy
We want to win now and plan for tomorrow. I think grabbing unrestricted free agents or deals like Jesse's involving later picks, but still being able to keep our first round and also have a bit of cap space to target high-end (players) when we need, we think we've struck a nice balance.
We're going to be active in the Irish space as well.
