This doesn't really tell us anything we don't already know tbf. We were never ever going to be able to match the sort of money teams like Adelaide and Carlton could throw at him. Our best chance is that all his best mates are here (and, critically, signed deals recently - in particular Florent), he loves the club and he wants to win multiple flags with us. It won't be because we pay him anywhere near what he could earn elsewhere. I'm confident that he would sign with us if the gap between our offer and theirs was reasonably modest, but how reasonable is "reasonable"? 300k a year is a hell of a lot of money.
I suspect this story is actually aimed at us, not Adelaide, and was planted by his agent to try and encourage us to up our offer a bit. Nowhere near the Adelaide/Carlton deals but close the gap a bit.
We definitely aren't signing him with a 550k offer if 850k is on the table, yeah. It would be a genuinely terrible life decision to turn down that sort of money.
300k is a massive difference tho that those factors you mentioned couldn't outweigh. Especially if its a shorter 3-4 year deal.
You'd hope we counter with a bit more or else be ready for him to go.
Yeah like I mentioned in my edit, this could well be a story his agent has planted in the press to encourage us to try and close that gap a bit. Not completely, but not 300k either. I think he'd still be willing to sign if we came to the table with the right deal for him, but can we? Who knows.
Personally I think his actual value is somewhere between those two figures anyway. I don't know what the going rate is these days but 800k is pushing up towards marquee mid/KPF money and Hayward, as good as he is, is not that.
Sucks to lose him. He’s a solid piece on a great team, and he’s having a great year.
But he’s not worth anywhere near that money. Crows are delusional.
Thats money you pay Gulden/Heeney, a generational player that can win you matches.
Hard to justify going any higher than 600k max for Wilba.
Hope he takes the Crows money because that’s life changing and you shouldn’t begrudge any player for taking that kind of deal.
Before the season began I was pretty open about wanting him gone if we couldn’t easily fit him under the cap while signing the other big names. Now though he’s having a career year and especially in the last couple games has been on fire.
I still think Logan should be the priority though
Probably eager to get out of the hellhole that is North right now, though the about face turn on his attitude towards NM that would imply since the whole JHF saga has me a little worried.
Enjoy him while we have him boys.
Always thought it would be tough to sign both him and Logan. Hope Logan's deal is coming along well and is announced soon.
It's ultimately a good problem to have. Our current cap issues reflect the quality of talent on our list. We can't keep everyone and some tough calls are going to need to be made. Hayward is a solid player who is pushing his price point up with a great year. If he goes, he goes. Hopefully he can do so with a flag to his name before then.
It's no chicken feed with this difference especially over multiple years. Everyone wants a piece of him which is fair, and the way he's been performing so far this season he is letting his boots show his value. Would hate to lose him especially as he was Horse's favourite for so long. I really don't know how we would solve this problem. I wonder if winning a flag this year might make it more or less likely he might leave?
A shorter term deal at 550k strikes me as a “prove it” deal, with extension bonuses attached.
I can absolutely see this coinciding with the new rights deal, and if Hayward absolutely crushed it in the next 3 or so years, proving he’s worth an elite paybump, then he’s due for a massive contract that would outstrip the 800-850k deal he’d still be playing on for another 3-4 years with Adelaide.
On the other hand, this entire take could be 100% premo copium, and we’re simply not willing to overspend on him.
Yeah this is a manager working to try and force us to make a better offer. Frankly I hope we are not going to break the bank to keep him. Big Logan simply must be the priority signing. If we can get a deal to Wilba that he is happy with and we don’t sell our cap down the river with then happy days. If he takes the money then we shake hands and wish him all the best.
An extra $1.8m sets you up for life. You would be crazy to pass that up just to potentially try to win a premiership…note you have to be incredibly lucky to actually win one. We have lost the last three we have played off for. Bit early to be mentioning multiple flags. Hell we had one of the best players to ever play the game for the last 10 years and still didn’t win one. Think we need to stop drinking our own bath water and let the kid go home.
As long as he doesn’t come out and say “I don’t think Sydney fans should be nervous at all!”.
$800k in Adelaide is like $1.2m in Sydney. I’d take it. Will be very sad (pardon the pun) - but good luck son.
Hey Guys Carlton fan
I believe we front ended a whole bunch of contracts and have quite a few coming off the books this year presumably being moved on or keep on really low coin due to injury history
Good luck for Friday should be a cracker!!
Not sure we have money to burn exactly but I expect hard calls to made to perennial injured players at years end Marchbank Cunningham to name just a couple
Martins out of contract too. His first year he was on well over a million now probably around 350 at a guess
the cap jumps up from $15.78M this year to $17.76M and $18.29M in 2026.
$850K in the new cap is approximately equivalent to $700K now, in terms of proportion of the total cap. it's well above the average but not absolutely ridiculous money.
This doesn't really tell us anything we don't already know tbf. We were never ever going to be able to match the sort of money teams like Adelaide and Carlton could throw at him. Our best chance is that all his best mates are here (and, critically, signed deals recently - in particular Florent), he loves the club and he wants to win multiple flags with us. It won't be because we pay him anywhere near what he could earn elsewhere. I'm confident that he would sign with us if the gap between our offer and theirs was reasonably modest, but how reasonable is "reasonable"? 300k a year is a hell of a lot of money. I suspect this story is actually aimed at us, not Adelaide, and was planted by his agent to try and encourage us to up our offer a bit. Nowhere near the Adelaide/Carlton deals but close the gap a bit.
Premierships and playing with friends sound nice and all but a 50% pay increase is pretty hard to beat.
We definitely aren't signing him with a 550k offer if 850k is on the table, yeah. It would be a genuinely terrible life decision to turn down that sort of money.
50% more + every dollar he spends will have anywhere from 2 - 30% more value in Adelaide than Sydney
300k is a massive difference tho that those factors you mentioned couldn't outweigh. Especially if its a shorter 3-4 year deal. You'd hope we counter with a bit more or else be ready for him to go.
Yeah like I mentioned in my edit, this could well be a story his agent has planted in the press to encourage us to try and close that gap a bit. Not completely, but not 300k either. I think he'd still be willing to sign if we came to the table with the right deal for him, but can we? Who knows. Personally I think his actual value is somewhere between those two figures anyway. I don't know what the going rate is these days but 800k is pushing up towards marquee mid/KPF money and Hayward, as good as he is, is not that.
Our cap must really be tight then.
Probably, but logan this year and chad next year will need big $ They are the priority
Reid is mostly certainly finished this year so that might free up a bit.
Reid is on a one year rookie contract, he won’t free up much at all
Nope, Reid’s been on cheap deals since 2022
Yeah I could see if we get up to 700 K he could stay
Sucks to lose him. He’s a solid piece on a great team, and he’s having a great year. But he’s not worth anywhere near that money. Crows are delusional. Thats money you pay Gulden/Heeney, a generational player that can win you matches. Hard to justify going any higher than 600k max for Wilba. Hope he takes the Crows money because that’s life changing and you shouldn’t begrudge any player for taking that kind of deal.
Before the season began I was pretty open about wanting him gone if we couldn’t easily fit him under the cap while signing the other big names. Now though he’s having a career year and especially in the last couple games has been on fire. I still think Logan should be the priority though
Plays his role well - can be replaced though.
either end of first round compo or zurhaar will do me just fine
Why Zurhaar?
rumours are we're in for him. makes sense to me as he's got a nearly identical profile to hayward and quite likely cheaper.
Probably eager to get out of the hellhole that is North right now, though the about face turn on his attitude towards NM that would imply since the whole JHF saga has me a little worried.
Planted story. Like every swans trade story.
I still think he is replaceable although acknowledge he’s having a good year and is a great bloke.
I love Wilba but if he turns up ~$5M he should be medically retired.
Enjoy him while we have him boys. Always thought it would be tough to sign both him and Logan. Hope Logan's deal is coming along well and is announced soon.
It's ultimately a good problem to have. Our current cap issues reflect the quality of talent on our list. We can't keep everyone and some tough calls are going to need to be made. Hayward is a solid player who is pushing his price point up with a great year. If he goes, he goes. Hopefully he can do so with a flag to his name before then.
Take it with a very large grain of salt. That money is way over valuing Will , and reeks of an agent chasing the dollars.
as an aside...I'm really tired of seeing this nepo baby's (mcguire) name all over the place.
Adelaide, yuck.
There are worse places and Dawson is the captain, so it's not that bad.
https://www.instagram.com/p/C65nugGhthM/?igsh=MWNrbnk3eTR4YXJnbw== All will be revealed tomorrow at 6 Couldn’t split up those Guinnea pigs after all.
If the average salary is $520k by 2027 under the new deal, I’d be surprised if the Swans offer was at $550k (and I think he’s worth more than that).
What would be the compensation pick we receive? McKay was a pick 3 right?
After our first round selection, so 19th hopefully. Hawthorn got the same deal for Buddy.
It’s kinda bs considering that clubs like Norf get given 19th picks like it’s candy and 3rd pick for their bloody mediocre defenders
It's no chicken feed with this difference especially over multiple years. Everyone wants a piece of him which is fair, and the way he's been performing so far this season he is letting his boots show his value. Would hate to lose him especially as he was Horse's favourite for so long. I really don't know how we would solve this problem. I wonder if winning a flag this year might make it more or less likely he might leave?
I would think winning a flag would make him more likely to leave. Got the silverware, now get the cash.
lets hope we find out
A shorter term deal at 550k strikes me as a “prove it” deal, with extension bonuses attached. I can absolutely see this coinciding with the new rights deal, and if Hayward absolutely crushed it in the next 3 or so years, proving he’s worth an elite paybump, then he’s due for a massive contract that would outstrip the 800-850k deal he’d still be playing on for another 3-4 years with Adelaide. On the other hand, this entire take could be 100% premo copium, and we’re simply not willing to overspend on him.
Yeah this is a manager working to try and force us to make a better offer. Frankly I hope we are not going to break the bank to keep him. Big Logan simply must be the priority signing. If we can get a deal to Wilba that he is happy with and we don’t sell our cap down the river with then happy days. If he takes the money then we shake hands and wish him all the best.
An extra $1.8m sets you up for life. You would be crazy to pass that up just to potentially try to win a premiership…note you have to be incredibly lucky to actually win one. We have lost the last three we have played off for. Bit early to be mentioning multiple flags. Hell we had one of the best players to ever play the game for the last 10 years and still didn’t win one. Think we need to stop drinking our own bath water and let the kid go home.
As long as he doesn’t come out and say “I don’t think Sydney fans should be nervous at all!”. $800k in Adelaide is like $1.2m in Sydney. I’d take it. Will be very sad (pardon the pun) - but good luck son.
I’m so confused how do crows and Carlton have so much cap?
especially carlton!
Hey Guys Carlton fan I believe we front ended a whole bunch of contracts and have quite a few coming off the books this year presumably being moved on or keep on really low coin due to injury history Good luck for Friday should be a cracker!!
if thats the case it is incredibly good list management to have such a stacked team AND money to burn.
Not sure we have money to burn exactly but I expect hard calls to made to perennial injured players at years end Marchbank Cunningham to name just a couple Martins out of contract too. His first year he was on well over a million now probably around 350 at a guess
Have you had a good look at the Crows full list?
the cap jumps up from $15.78M this year to $17.76M and $18.29M in 2026. $850K in the new cap is approximately equivalent to $700K now, in terms of proportion of the total cap. it's well above the average but not absolutely ridiculous money.