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Sport Nation
Cornes: Is it time for an NBA-like contract limit in the AFL?
Nicholas Quinlan • August 30th, 2025 3:21 pm
With more and more clubs making use of long-term deals to help retain players, Kane Cornes believes that without the introduction of contract limits, this could lead to clubs such as Geelong benefiting from other clubs doing ‘stupid stuff’.
Since Buddy Franklin signed with Sydney in 2013 on a nine-year contract, the AFL has seen an explosion of long-term deals being signed.
While some of these have worked like Franklin’s, albeit without premiership success, there have been deals that have forced clubs to get rid of players at discounted prices due to their long-term deals, like Brodie Grundy in 2022.
In recent times, the signings of big-name players such as Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera, Chad Warner and Harley Reid have bucked this trend of signing a big contract, having all opted to sign two-year deals in favour of long-term deals.
But with the trade season nearing and discussion of the AFL potentially bringing in contract limits akin to the NBA, Cornes thinks that some clubs will want no interference in this space, as they can potentially benefit from the ineptitude of others.
“The way you manage your salary cap is the most important thing,” Cornes stated on SEN’s Crunch Time.
“And I think there are some clubs out there who are hoping that the AFL don’t bring in a limit on contract lengths.
“Because they’re just saying, ‘You keep doing the same stupid stuff, (because) we won’t, we’ll manage our cap the way we always have, it’s given us the biggest advantage. ’
“And clubs will continually do stupid stuff. Geelong will be hoping that the AFL don’t cap it. They’ll be hoping that they allow clubs to trade three years in advance with their draft picks.
“Because they know that clubs will continue to do stupid stuff and they won’t, and that will give them the biggest competitive advantage.”
Currently, the AFL is considering bringing in contract limits into the next Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), having already made clubs get board approval to sign players beyond six years.
Therefore, it would be unlikely that contract limits would be added until the 2028 season, when they negotiate the next CBA with the AFL Players’ Association.
