Fremantle football boss Joe Brierty has confirmed he has spoken to recently retired Richmond player Nathan Broad about the prospect of coaching, but not yet playing.
Broad looms as a potential pick-up in a bid to bolster the Dockers' defence, which dealt with multiple blows throughout the season.
Captain Alex Pearce suffered a serious calf strain and partial tear of his Achilles in last week's grand final, while Brennan Cox battled with soft-tissue injuries throughout the year.
"Nathan and I have had some discussions about coaching," Brierty confirmed.
"Haven't had discussions about playing. We'll have to catch up with him in the next fortnight and see what his plans will be as he's transitioning to WA with his family.
"He may form a part of our process in replacing those roles."
The Dockers have vacancies in their coaching department following the departures of Adam Read (GWS) and Todd Curley.
Another rival player that has quickly been linked to the Dockers is former Collingwood forward Bobby Hill.
Hill and the Pies parted ways earlier this year after a troubled 12 months, but the Norm Smith Medallist is keen to return to the AFL.
Following Sam Switkowski's retirement, the Dockers could look at bringing in the talented forward, who has family links to the club as well as close friends such as Shai Bolton.
"We haven't had any discussions with Bobby or his management about coming to the club," Brierty said.
"We'll always look at everything we can with players that might make our list better, and consider that as a list management group. But as it stands now, we haven't entertained anything with Bobby.
"When we look at the development of our small forwards on our list, we have players who are ready to take the opportunity. When you look at Tobyn Murray and Chris Scerri, obviously (Leon) Kickett is developing into what we think will be an AFL player.
"Excited about the talent that we have on our list."
Another list management decision will be the call made on winger Nathan O'Driscoll, who is currently in limbo.
O'Driscoll was courted by the Western Bulldogs, but that interest has cooled as they focus on their dealings with Zak Butters and Jordon Butts from both South Australian sides.
The left-footer is without a contract for next year and fell out of favour towards the end of 2026, with Fremantle's footy boss providing the latest update.
"The only one we're really working through is Nathan O'Driscoll," Brierty said.
"Our discussions with Nathan and his manager at the moment are that he'll look to explore his options through the trade period. And then we'll work through what that looks like.
"Nathan is the only player we've had those discussions with.
"We put some things on the table for Nathan. As we get to the back end of the year, we would just hold off on any further conversations until the end of the season. We revisited that this week and agreed with both parties that he would entertain and explore what that looks like.
"We're comfortable with him exploring those options. Depending on whether something comes to fruition or not. If it doesn't, then we'll have those discussions after the trade period."
Brierty was adamant that ruckman Sean Darcy will stay at the Dockers, where he is contracted until 2030.
Darcy was overlooked for the AFL Grand Final, but has made inroads into some of the development areas the Dockers want to see
The Dockers have also made a commitment to Jaren Carr, but his new deal will need to wait until after the trade period.
Carr could be delisted but is guaranteed a rookie list spot.
