Jack Martin will earn about $2 million over the first two seasons of a front-loaded five-year deal on the back of a deal that has been struck by the Gold Coast Suns and Martin's preferred destination club, Carlton.
In a bid to assure Martin to the Blues through the pre-season draft, Martin will be guaranteed more than $1 million next year, and then close to that amount in year two of the five-year deal which would pay him an aggregate of about $3.1 million, with incentives that could push that to about $3.5 million if he performs well.
Due to the front-loading of the contract, it will be sure to fend off both Gold Coast and Melbourne from picking him before Carlton in the pre-season draft and will make Martin close to the highest-paid player at the Blues, potentially ahead of Patrick Cripps in those two years, but will average a more moderate guaranteed salary of about $625,000 per season over the entire length of the contract.
On Monday, The Age revealed that Martin's terms included a 2020 contract on more than $1 million to push the Suns and Demons away from picking him, but the added second year is proving to be a further stumbling block for those clubs.
The figures of Martin's contract are drastically reduced in years three to five, where he will receive about $1.1 million over those three years, which is close to the average for an AFL player.
Melbourne has not ruled out the possibility of taking Martin in the draft, but only if he wished to play for the club. So far, Martin has not been willing to meet with the Demons as he has his eyes set on moving to the Blues, who were unable to facilitate a trade with the Gold Coast during the trade period.
The Suns have flirted with the idea of re-drafting Martin in the pre-season draft after failed trade negotiations with the Blues, but it would be surprising at this stage to see Martin anywhere else but at the Blues.
"Certainly the list management group and the coaches will have a very serious look at it," Suns chairman Tony Cochrane said Monday.
Cochrane said the Suns had been serious in its threat to consider redrafting Martin and the nominated contract terms has not changed that stance.
Under the rules, the club that picks up Martin in the pre-season draft has to contract him on the terms he has nominated, meaning that if the Suns or Demons did select him, they would have to pay him that $2 million over the next two years, rather than paying the contract's average of around $625,000 a season.
The Suns refused to accept Carlton's offer of a future second-round pick for Martin during the trade period, and unless they make the threat of re-drafting Martin a reality, they run the risk of losing him for nothing.
