An opportunity to cement a spot in the midfield was one of the main reasons Josh Caddy agreed to move from Geelong to Richmond.

It will be the third AFL club for the 24-year-old from Melbourne, who started his AFL career at Gold Coast.

On Thursday morning, the Tigers announced they had signed Caddy in exchange for picks 24 and 64 in this year's draft.

Caddy had bought a house in Geelong just a month ago, which he told Trade Radio would now become an investment property.

"It's a bit of a funny feeling, something I didn't see coming a couple of weeks ago, but I guess that's footy," he said.

He said when Richmond star Brett Delidio indicated he would like to join the Cats, Geelong administrators approached his to ask whether he would consider being traded to the Tigers.

That deal fell through and Deledio instead went to GWS, but Richmond recruiters were still keen to sign Caddy.

Geelong had a particularly strong midfield, Caddy said, and while he had been happy to stay there and continue to fight for his place in the Cats' side, he thought Richmond would offer more opportunities.

"It wasn't like Geelong were shopping my name around anywhere, that wasn't the case at all," he said.

"As a player, too, you've got to weigh up everything and have a good think about where you can get the best out of yourself as a player. Success is massive too.

"I think Richmond have a lot of potential. I see their list, Dustin Martin, Trent Cotchin, [Alex] Rance, They've got all the major areas covered. With a few tweaks they can really turn it around and have success in the near future."

The chance to play in the same side as good friend Dion Prestia was also attractive. "When things transpired and he got wind of that he was into me straight away," Caddy said.

They had known since they were both children playing junior football, and the pair were housemates on the Gold Coast.

The Suns traded Prestia and pick 24 in exchange for Richmond's No.6 pick and a second-round selection next year.