The trade and free agency market is beginning to heat up.

In the latest episode of the Midweek Tackle digital-only show ‘Tackle The Headline’, CODE Sports reporters Lauren Wood, Glenn McFarlane and Jon Ralph predict whether 12 uncontracted AFL players will stay or go — and who’s set for a big pay rise.

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GEORGE WARDLAW (North Melbourne)

Jon Ralph says: “George Wardlaw will sign a two-year contract. Paul Connors is his man, he gets the right deals. How much is he signing for across those two seasons?”

Glenn McFarlane says: “Has to be $1.1 million a season. He’s an outstanding player. We saw on the weekend he was involved in that crucial passage late in the game (against Gold Coast). If he gets some continuity, this guy, he is going to be a freak. Love the way he plays. He stays, he’s bought in already.”

MITCH LEWIS (Hawthorn)

Jon Ralph says: “Clubs like Collingwood are very interested in the unrestricted free agent, who’s kicked 17 goals in 11 games. Where’s he going? What cash is he getting?”

Lauren Wood says: “I think he’s got to look at the money, doesn’t he, from a team like Collingwood. You’d have to think he’s $800,000-plus, right? I’m not completely fudging the numbers there, am I? The unrestricted nature of it, I think there’s players on the rise at Hawthorn, he’s got Calsher Dear sort of nipping at his heels as well. It always makes me nervous when they’re putting (talks) on hold, looking for that extra bit of form when Collingwood’s lurking large.”

Zak Butters of the Power. Picture: James Elsby/AFL Photos via Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images

ZAK BUTTERS (Port Adelaide)

Jon Ralph says: “Geelong might be $1.6 million, Dogs maybe $1.8 million, I think clubs like Melbourne and Richmond massively front-ended – maybe it’d get closer to $2 million. Where will he finish up?”

Glenn McFarlane says: “Everyone’s talking the Bulldogs, absolutely, but I’m just going to take a punt and say Geelong. They can pay him up to $1.6 million and I think the situation with Zak, he wants to play in a premiership, there’s absolutely no doubt about that. So that chance might come better at Geelong than it does at the Bulldogs – even though he’s been well and truly linked to the Bulldogs for a long time.”

Jon Ralph says: “If he wants to win flags, he must go to Geelong. But I just think there’s a Bontempelli factor, there is Luke Beveridge, there’s the proximity to home, which is just a little bit closer to Geelong. I still think the Bulldogs have their nose in front, but it’s intriguing.”

JED WALTER (Gold Coast Suns)

Jon Ralph says: “He’s been offered a contract by Gold Coast, he’s kicked three goals two weeks in a row, he’s played 30 games off the last two years, so he can’t say ‘I’m not being played by the Gold Coast’ … I just think they can offer him nowhere near what an Essendon or a Richmond might want to offer him. If I’m Essendon, I’m thinking $1.5 million – that’s a Tom Boyd style-deal – knock Gold Coast out of the park. I think that he has finally shown the potential that he had is being realised by talent. I just think look at him and Nate Caddy as the (Scott) Lucas-(Matthew) Lloyd model, takes them to the promised land in the next 10 years and it’s something for the Essendon fans to hang their hat on. In seven or eight years, that $1.5 million will be chicken feed.”

Glenn McFarlane says: “You’ve got me sold on that, I think, Essendon. I think that’s what the Bombers need.”

Jed Walter of the Suns celebrates kicking a goal. Picture: Josh Chadwick/AFL Photos/via Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images

BEN KING (Gold Coast Suns)

Jon Ralph says: “A two-year deal is about to be signed. Is $1.3 million about fair rate?”

Lauren Wood says: “That’s exactly what I would have said for Ben King. You talk about the P-word with Jed Walter, ‘potential’ – he’s exceeded that and even more, hasn’t he? He’s just been brilliant for them. He’ll come out at the end of ’28 into that unrestricted realm – perfect for him.”

Jon Ralph says: “Scary money at 28 years of age. I don’t think we’ll see an unrestricted free agent of that ilk come out. He’ll have signed a fifth two-year contract … He’s probably worth $2.3 million at that stage over five years. We’ll just be signing a new CBA and he’s an unrestricted free agent – the club can’t match it.”

MITCH McGOVERN (Carlton)

Jon Ralph says: “Chris Davies is a big fan of him. His manager Colin Young, I think, really keen for him to stay. A two-year deal at Carlton …”

Glenn McFarlane says: “About $700,000? If they give him two-year deal, you would think he would stay. He’s been through the hard hall there. I spoke to him earlier this year and he wants to stay, but he’s still got that little residual chip on the shoulder. But it’s actually worked in the right favour for him and he’s actually been playing pretty good footy. So I think he stays.”

Tom Sparrow of the Demons. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images

TOM SPARROW (Melbourne)

Jon Ralph says: “He’s an unrestricted free agent, he’s an Adelaide boy, he’s the 21st ranked player in the comp in the last five weeks. Had a lot of interviews lately, says a lot about ‘letting my manager do the talking’, says a lot about ‘letting the footy do the talking’. He hasn’t said a lot about wanting Melbourne to be his long-term club. Are you worried?”

Lauren Wood says: “I’m definitely worried if I’m a Melbourne fan. We talk about ‘on hold’ season for contracts, the non-committal season when it comes to your man who’s out of contract. I think you’ve got to look at what Adelaide has built and is building. You’ve got (Izak) Rankine, you’ve got (Josh) Rachele … you slot Sparrow in there on what could be a potentially high price – thinking in the $850,000 realm you would have to say, particularly over the last five weeks, he’s built himself a really handy little purple patch – to maybe feather his own nest, pardon the pun, to get to Adelaide.”

LACHIE NEALE (Brisbane Lions)

Glenn McFarlane says: “I think he’ll end up staying.”

Jon Ralph says: “What if they win the flag? All of a sudden he’s going for four – you can’t walk away from that.”

TOBY GREENE (GWS Giants)

Jon Ralph says: “Maybe Geelong? What are Geelong paying him, given that the Giants have offered about $2 million over three years?”

Lauren Wood says: “A minimum $900,000, you’d have to say. Maybe even a little bit more. Potentially the Zak Butters factor is going to play a little bit into that, but I think he ends up in Victoria, doesn’t he? Young family, wants to get home.”

Jon Ralph says: “He says it’s not a money decision – it tends to be a money decision in the end.”

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DARCY WILSON (St Kilda)

Jon Ralph says: “The 44th best player in the comp right now, but he’s hot, he’s explosive, he’s the prototype of the modern midfielder. He’s got the Max Holmes-style stats.”

Glenn McFarlane says: “Surely he has to stay. $1.2 million – is that too much? Not the way he is at the moment. I think that’s probably the way to go.”

JOEL AMARTEY (Sydney Swans)

Jon Ralph says: “A Sydney player who is a long way apart in contract talks. We’ve been told maybe $1.2 million is the offer. Would Collingwood throw $1.2 million at him, given he’s an unrestricted free agent?”

Glenn McFarlane says: “It’s a lot of money, but they would think about it. They’re obviously going to be looking around – they’re looking around Jed Walter, they’re looking around Mitch Lewis, they’re looking around Joel Amartey. They need a forward, so they might stump up the money. We spoke to Collingwood earlier this year, they’ve got a lot of money there, it’s just a question of whether they hold fire or not.”

BUKU KHAMIS (Western Bulldogs)

Jon Ralph says: “Carlton is very interested in (him). What are you paying Buku, whose intercept numbers are great, gets a lot of goals kicked on him, but that’s OK he’s a third defender?

Lauren Wood says: “At his best, he’s really, really good and if he can find that consistency … is $800,000 too much? I mean, they’ve had interest before, but I think they’ve got to land one, don’t they? They’re clearly on the lookout for a coach – that might be a factor. But he’s waxed and waned a little bit in form, particularly this year, which I think has caused him to maybe put those talks on the backburner.”