Gary Ablett has been offered a new contract by Gold Coast that will ensure he stays one of the game's very highest-paid players from 2016.
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The Suns have offered the dual Brownlow medallist a two-year extension, in which he would receive more than $1 million in both 2016 and 2017 – which, on present contracts, would keep him in the top three highest-paid players in the AFL in those years, along with Lance Franklin and Tom Boyd.
It is possible, of course, that Patrick Dangerfield – a free agent next year – or another player will sign a new deal that will surpass that trio in terms of remuneration after 2016.
While Ablett has yet to sign, sources said there were no issues between the parties and that he was expected to sign the extension early next year.
He is contracted for 2015, the final year of his five-year deal with the Suns.
Ablett has been the AFL's best-paid player over the past four years, in terms of the average per year. But he will be far from the highest paid in 2015, due to the heavily front-loaded contract he signed with the Suns when he left Geelong; he is due well below the million-dollar mark next year, but averages significantly more over the five-year term.
When commercial deals are added to Ablett's (average per annum) contract – such as his Gatorade sponsorship and deals with Nike and an ambassador role with AFL Queensland – he is believed to be clearly the game's best-paid player.
Franklin, too, will be paid well under a $1 million next year – he is due little more than $700,000 in 2015, but the contract escalates dramatically from 2016 to about $1.2 million and the same in 2017.
Boyd, who was lured to the Bulldogs on a six-year deal worth more than $6 million, will be paid the scheduled minimum for a second-year player next year – he cannot make more than $200,000 in 2015. But his contract rises exponentially after that.
Franklin is contracted for nine years on more than $10 million, with the bulk coming in the latter stages of the deal, including about $1.4 million in 2020 (the seventh year) and $1.5 million in 2021.
The Ablett, Buddy and Boyd deals were all negotiated by the same manager, Liam Pickering, who no longer handles Franklin, but has been handling the discussions over Ablett's contract extension with the Suns.
Brisbane recruit Dayne Beams will be among the highest-paid players in the competition next year, because his five-year contract with the Lions is frontloaded and will see him paid more than $1 million in the first year, and then dip in the latter years, to allow the Lions space as their young list matures.
