EXPLAINED: Everything you need to know about the AFL Free Agency and Trade Period

The conclusion of the 2025 AFL season has welcomed the accompanying silly season that will occur over the spring and summer months.

Player movement and exchange space have quickly become a sport of its own, and this year is shaping up to be the biggest in history.

Multiple club captains are exploring moves to rival clubs, while changes to the Draft Value Index (DVI) will force sides to pay a fair price for club-linked draft prospects.

The introduction of future trading is among us, with teams able to trade up to two years into the future, meaning the picks from 2027 are on the table.

Everything is explained below...

What is the Trade Period?

• A 10-day window that occurs following each year's Grand Final, but before the AFL Draft, allowing all 18 clubs to exchange players and draft picks in a formal setting.
• It gives clubs a chance to improve their playing list or selections at the Draft.
• There is a rule change for this year, with clubs now able to trade picks two years in advance. It means clubs can trade picks for the 2025 draft this year, as well as 2026 and 2027.

Christian Petracca and Zach Merrett pose as the biggest names, and could unlock a host of trades among the competition.

What are the key dates of this year's Trade and Free Agency Period?

• The Free Agency period will open on Friday, October 3, at 9am AEDT and close on Friday, October 10, at 5pm AEDT.
• The Continental Tyres AFL Trade Period will commence on Monday, October 6, at 9am AEDT and close on Wednesday, October 15, at 7.30pm AEDT.

How are clubs allocated their draft selections?

• Draft selections are in the reverse order of the finishing ladder from that season. In 2025, West Coast finished 18th; therefore, its first draft pick is No.1, and so on.
• This repeats a minimum of three times (each club must select three players at the draft), but can go beyond that depending on the number of list spots each club has to fill.
• With clubs able to trade two years in advance, the selections aren't always a perfect reverse order. For example, in 2024, Richmond did a deal that saw them land North Melbourne's future first-round pick. It means the Tigers have Pick 3, which is the Kangaroos' pick for finishing 16th this year.

SEE THE FULL 2025 DRAFT ORDER HERE

What is the Draft Value Index (DVI), and how will it change in 2025?

• This is a system devised by the AFL that attaches a points total to each draft pick. For example, pick No.1 is worth 3000 points, pick No.2 is worth 2481 points, and so it goes all the way down to pick No.54, which is worth 14 points. Any picks from 55 onwards are worth zero, which saw around 10,000 points shaved off the index.
• The previous system saw points allocated until Pick 73.
• This DVI system is in place for two reasons. The first is to ensure clubs pay 'fair value' for father-son selections or Academy players they have special access to. Brisbane cashed in in 2024 on Levi Ashcroft (Pick 5), Sam Marshall (Pick 25) and Ty Gallop (Pick 42) after loading up on picks following their premiership. It will be harder to achieve the same feat this year.
• Another reason for the system is to help the AFL and clubs assess the fairness of pick swaps.

What is Free Agency?

• Free Agency gives players another vehicle to change clubs, which was introduced in 2012. Brendon Goddard was the first free agent, crossing from St Kilda to Essendon.
• There are two types of free agents – restricted and unrestricted.
• Unrestricted free agents have served eight years or more at one club, are out of contract, and can automatically move to the club of their choice. There is no need for a trade. This includes any player who has been delisted in the past.
• Restricted free agents are a little trickier. They have served eight years or more with one club and are in the top 25 per cent of wage earners at that club – often among the 'star' players of a team. Opposition clubs can make an offer to lure these players. If the offer is matched – both in duration and financially – by their current club, but the player still wants to move, a trade then has to be struck.

What is Free Agency compensation?

• The AFL will allocate draft picks to clubs with a net loss of free agents over one Trade Period, using a formula it has devised.
• The formula produces a points rating for players based on the new contract of the free agent and the age of the free agent. Draft picks will be allocated in one of five places – first round (immediately following that club's current selection), end of first round, second round, end of second round, or third round.

Every Free Agency move since 2012