{"id":716484,"date":"2026-06-05T07:47:20","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T07:47:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/716484\/"},"modified":"2026-06-05T07:47:20","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T07:47:20","slug":"news-2026-richmond-18m-offer-zak-butters-port-adelaide-star-western-bulldogs-links","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/716484\/","title":{"rendered":"News 2026: Richmond $18m offer Zak Butters Port Adelaide star Western Bulldogs links"},"content":{"rendered":"

Richmond<\/a> has reportedly put together an offer for Port Adelaide<\/a> free agent Zak Butters<\/a> worth $18m over eight years, with the deal front-loaded so he could earn as much as $4m in 2027.<\/p>\n

Not only would that be the largest contract in league history, it potentially doubles the current highest single-year earnings record, with St Kilda\u2019s<\/a> Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera on $2m this season.<\/p>\n

\"Port<\/p>\n

Port Adelaide star Zak Butters.\u00a0AFL Photos via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Despite that, it remains up for debate whether the enormous offer makes Richmond the favourite to land Butters in October.<\/p>\n

Regardless of where he signs, the star midfielder will likely receive the game\u2019s largest ever contract and AFL Media journalist Cal Twomey still thinks the Western Bulldogs<\/a> are at the front of the queue. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve said all along that I thought the Dogs were the favourites, and I still think that. He\u2019s still got links there having grown up barracking for them,\u201d Twomey told 3AW on Thursday night.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always thought it was one of two in terms of the Dogs or the Cats. Collingwood is also chasing him and then Richmond, who have put forward the biggest offer in AFL history for him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat would be his easiest path back to Victoria, because Richmond has the picks and the money.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, South Australian reporter Chris Dittmar has labelled Richmond the \u201cabsolute frontrunner\u201d because of the mammoth contract.<\/p>\n

Speaking on Triple M in Adelaide, Dittmar reported the news, saying the Tigers\u2019 deal averages out at $2.25m per season across eight years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe speculation that goes on and on about Zak Butters\u2019 future can get tedious. So when you actually get some factual news, I find it interesting,\u201d Dittmar said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can tell you, Richmond is the absolute frontrunner (for Butters).<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a deal on the table now for $18 million over eight years. It averages out at $2.25 million per year, up front there will be 3-4 million (per season) in the first couple years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fellow Port Adelaide star midfielder Jason Horne-Francis<\/a> was on the program and was \u201csurprised\u201d by that assessment. <\/p>\n

\u201cFrontrunner? Wow,\u201d Horne-Francis, Butters\u2019 top midfield partner said. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m surprised that Richmond would be the frontrunner \u2026 with the (other) clubs (pursing him) closer to where he lives.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut hopefully Port are the frontrunners at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Zak<\/p>\n

Zak Butters celebrates with Jason Horne-Francis.\u00a0Getty<\/p>\n

Butters grew up in Darley in regional Victoria, making Geelong a geographic fit, though the Bulldogs were the team he supported all of his life. <\/p>\n

The Tigers currently hold pick two in the draft and are, alongside Essendon, the team most likely to win the wooden spoon. <\/p>\n

Pick No.1 would be an enormous win for Port Adelaide, given it would allow them to select star academy prospect Dougie Cochrane without having to match a rival\u2019s bid.<\/p>\n

The Power have stated they will match any bid for free agent Butters and force his team of choice to trade for him.<\/p>\n

The Bulldogs only hold one pick in the first round of this year\u2019s draft, while selections in 2027 and 2028 are heavily compromised by Tasmania\u2019s concessions. <\/p>\n

Butters has given no indication he will remain at Port Adelaide, with Melbourne coach Steven King indicating earlier in the season that the 25-year-old\u2019s trade destination may have been locked in at the end of 2025<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The midfielder has averaged 31 disposals and six clearances per game so far this season and would be firmly in All-Australian calculations. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Richmond has reportedly put together an offer for Port Adelaide free agent Zak Butters worth $18m over eight…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":716485,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-716484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/716484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=716484"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/716484\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/716485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=716484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=716484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=716484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}