'Extraordinary' Devils cash waiting for Nick Daicos following 'brazen' trade approaches

Geelong champion Jimmy Bartel believes it will be difficult for any team to turn down the monster money Tasmania has up its sleeve in the coming years, in particular Collingwood midfielder Nick Daicos

It comes after reports rival clubs have gone directly to the Pies superstar and asked him whether he would be open to a move in this year's trade period.

That bombshell news shows just how far the trade period has developed in recent years, with these 'brazen' approaches being made to even the most untouchable players.

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Daicos, the son of Collingwood great Peter Daicos, is signed with the club until 2029 where he will hit free agency.

He would undoubtedly be one of the highest paid players in the competition, he bleeds black and white, he plays for the biggest club in the land and has three successive Brownlow podium finishes to his name.

And yet rival clubs seemingly feel it is worth posing the question to him to see if he would potentially make a move.

The Tassie Devils will have as much as $5 million in sign-on bonuses up their sleeve when they enter the competition, likely in 2028, to lure rival players.

This means they can effectively pay someone like Daicos a $2.5m salary and tack on another $3m in the first year as a sign-on bonus.

Bartel isn't sure how any star player could turn down such obscene money.

"I think wherever (this report has) come from. It seems like it's just putting it out there to Collingwood not to take for granted that he's at Collingwood forever, just because he's a father-son, they still need to pay him full market odds," Bartel told Nine's The Trade Off.

"I remember in my time you couldn't get your head around an Ablett leaving Geelong and he played for the Suns.

"Those sign-on bonuses Tassie has to offer, they're a game changer. Someone like Nick in one year of football could get paid $5m. That's an extraordinary amount of money."

Essendon champion Matthew Lloyd believes Daicos has every right to believe he should be paid as much as some of the recent re-signings that have broken the $2m barrier.

"Daicos would see Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera sign for $2m per season. Daicos would be on around $1.2m," Lloyd said.

"There's no doubt he'd be thinking to himself, 'OK, there's big money around, I'm one of the best one or two players in the competition'. You'd think he'd have to be commanding elsewhere that kind of money himself."

Twomey added that he feels this approach to Daicos sums up how "brazen" some teams are becoming in the trade space.

"It shows the world we're now in where nothing and nobody is off limits and anything can be prised open," Twomey told AFL Media.

"It's noteworthy how ambitious and brazen clubs are now that even he is considered approachable and fair game in a trade sense."

This year's trade period speaks to that. Charlie Curnow is contracted until 2029, Clayton Oliver until 2030, Christian Petracca 2029, Jy Simpkin 2029, Zach Merrett 2027, Bailey Humphrey 2028, Ben Ainsworth 2028, Rowan Marshall 2027... they've all either requested trades or expressed a desire to leave.

Contracted players are more attainable than ever before. The balance of power is well and truly in the favour of players, who can sign long term and then ask out and push for it to happen at the drop of a hat.

These approaches from clubs are likely part of that. Curnow and Geelong met mid-season to discuss a plan to get him out of Carlton. The Cats have made similar plays with Jeremy Cameron and Bailey Smith in the past as well. Every club would do it.

Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell met up with West Coast star Oscar Allen in April. The season had barely started and the Hawks were trying to lure a rival club skipper.

So it is no surprise that clubs feel they can go to Daicos directly and ask him whether he would consider a move. As Twomey said himself, clubs are more "ambitious and brazen" than ever, and they can be given the nature of the trade space.

Nine's chief AFL reporter Tom Morris revealed that Peter Daicos stormed out of Collingwood's best and fairest award over a joke made by Pies coach Craig McRae about his son finishing second in the Brownlow once again.

"He came runner-up in the Brownlow Medal again. Maybe a few more 16-disposal games might get you there next year," McRae said, joking at some of the curious games Brownlow winner Matt Rowell polled in.

Hours later, Daicos would finish, you guessed it, second in the club's best and fairest behind ruckman Darcy Cameron.

It would be interesting to know whether the approaches from rival clubs came before or after that awkward misstep.

Regardless, even in a hypothetical world where, let's say Hawthorn, convinced Daicos to request a trade from Collingwood, it still wouldn't eventuate.

There's no world where the Pies would trade a young superstar this heavily contracted - and few clubs even have the assets to put a realistic trade together.

Richmond could offer picks three and four, maybe a few of the first-round kids from last year's draft, throw in Tim Taranto ... the Magpies would still say no, and rightly so.

The only world where Daicos departs Collingwood is likely when the Devils enter the competition.

The Tassie link gets stronger, given Derek Hine, the club's list manager, worked previously at Collingwood and club great Nathan Buckley might be their inaugural coach.

SEN AFL commentator Andy Maher gave his immediate reaction to the report.

"Is there a more unlikely trade request in the AFL right now? I don't think there is," Maher told SEN.

"But Gary Ablett Jr left Geelong. Tasmania has $5m they can give to anybody in a few years when Daicos is in his prime.

"What if (other clubs) heard somewhere along the line that there's something to (him potentially leaving in a few years). I've got no idea.

"To say that it is fanciful to consider that Nick Daicos would leave at some stage … I don't know that. Gary Ablett left."

But that is all a discussion for well in the future. For now, Daicos will surely remain a long-term Pie.