Martin, after a contract saga that mirrored a soap opera, has agreed to remain at Punt Road on a seven-year deal worth more than $8 million. He is contracted until the end of 2024.

His decision to remain ensures Richmond have retained one of the key pieces they hope can secure their first flag since 1980. This could come as early as this month, with the Tigers - complete with the double chance - beginning their campaign against Geelong in a qualifying final next Friday night.

While the salary cap and money able to be spent on additional services agreements will increase in this period, Martin's contract will take a heavy percentage, with the Tigers also needing to re-sign fellow stars Jack Riewoldt, Trent Cotchin and Alex Rance in coming years. Rance and Riewoldt are signed until the end of 2019 and Cotchin until the end of 2020.

The Tigers will also want to be secure more talent, particularly established talent, if they are to remain in the premiership "window".

Gale said on Friday the Tigers would have room to move should talent become available. "It's solid - we would never make a decision that we felt would compromise our ability to reward and retain our current players and also attract new players," he said.

"That's part of the responsibility. We have a responsibility to Dustin, we have got no interest in underpaying him but we can't overpay either. We want to pay him his fair market value but we have also got a responsibility to surround him with the best possible environment for all of our players to be as good as they can be and achieve the ultimate success."

One list manager from a rival club said most clubs shared 50 per cent of their salary cap - about $5 million - between their best 10 or dozen players, questioning the negative impact Martin's huge salary could have on the Tigers and their ability to retain elite talent.

Martin's decision to re-sign will mean the Tigers are a "destination" club, for they are expected to continue to be a finals-bound side in the near future.

"We'll always be active [in trade period]," Gale said. "There will always be opportunities that will arise from time to time. We go into the national draft with two first-round draft picks at this stage as well, so I think we are really well placed."

Gale rubbished claims the Tigers had been forced to increase their offer to Martin in recent weeks. Senior Tigers officials also rejected claims on Friday that Martin would pocket $1.3 million a year. It's understood Martin will pocket no more than $1.2 million a year.

Gale would not disclose if there were trigger clauses in Martin's contract, particularly in the latter years, to help safeguard the club should Martin struggle for form or have a serious injury and not return as the player he once was - as was the case with Dale Thomas after he crossed from Collingwood to Carlton.

While Gale said the Tigers wouldn't have any issues with Martin's contract, it should be remembered that the Swans were forced to shed players when they signed Lance Franklin to his nine-year, $10 million deal.

Martin's re-signing brought to an end a saga that began when his manager Ralph Carr parked contract negotiations over summer, declaring his client wanted to test the market, while also reviewing where the Tigers were positioned on field.

Those answers were delivered when North Melbourne offered an even richer deal, while the Tigers have emerged as a genuine premiership threat. But the Tigers still didn't have control of Martin's story even after he had re-signed, for Carr had inked a reported $50,000 deal with The Footy Show.

While Martin's re-signing had been widely reported on Thursday evening, his first public comments were on the Channel Nine show when interviewed by host Eddie McGuire. Gale said the Tigers would have preferred that had not been the case.

"It certainly wasn't our preference. The most important thing about this footy club is our members and we would much prefer that we had given our members the opportunity to hear first," he said.

"I'm not going to begrudge Dustin - he's turned his back on a lot of money which is incredible so to do a paid exclusive interview and get a bit of earn I'm comfortable with that and I'm sure our fans are comfortable, too. I could have made the announcement nude and our fans wouldn't care."

Young Tiger Dan Butler revealed 30 players - including Martin - had gathered at Cotchin's house to watch Martin's pre-recorded announcement.

"He left the room when it was on. All of us watched it. We were pretty rapt he signed," Butler said.

"It's obviously a massive boost for us. It's really good to get it out of the way and know that he is committed to us."