Arguably one of the top delisted free agents on the market right now is 2018 Brownlow medallist Tom Mitchell.
The 32-year-old struggled to cement himself in the Magpies engine room in 2025, featuring in just four AFL games after over a year out of the senior side with a foot injury and strong performances from the likes of Ned Long keeping him at state level.
However, while senior opportunities were limited for Mitchell in 2025, he still excelled when provided the keys to Collingwood's midfield, averaging 23.3 disposals, 3.0 clearances and 5.0 score involvements per game in his four appearances this year.
Time will tell if he gets the chance to prove himself again in 2026, but the numbers certainly suggest he's worthy of a spot on a different AFL list.
So, which teams should be willing to take on the veteran talent?
We look at four potential landing spots for Tom Mitchell.
2Essendon
Similarly to West Coast, the Bombers were poor around the heat of the contest in 2025, with an overreliance on Zach Merrett and an injury crisis exposing the weakness of their midfield stocks.
Essendon ranked in the bottom four for both clearances, contested possessions and were dead last in hard ball gets in 2025. Mitchell, while no longer the superstar that could drastically alter those metrics for the Bombers, could definitely improve these areas as a value pick-up for Essendon.
The Bombers seem intent on going all in next year, refusing to roll over and rebuild following the departure of star ruck Sam Draper, while also recruiting Suns midfielder Brayden Fiorini. The potential addition of Tom Mitchell could further bolster their inside midfield stocks and do so cheaply too.
