PURCELL HONOUR
CUTS ACROSS DEALS
PLAYER managers are confident AFL stars on backended deals, such as Jack Martin and Jeremy Cameron, will not be unfairly disadvantaged by competition-wide pay cuts.
The AFL has made it clear it is prepared to have discussions on exemptions for players who have agreed contracts with cash loaded into one specific season.
It is understood the league could apply the coming pay cuts to the average wage of those players across the life of the contract instead of the 2020 portion of their wage.
Carlton’s Martin was to accept a five-season deal on $600,000 but instead took more than $1 million up front to scare off rivals in the pre-season draft at the club’s request.
Players will take pay cuts that could go past 35 per cent of their 2020 wages depending on a return to footy.
So without an exemption, Martin could be hit with an extra $150,000 of pay cuts above those applied on his average contract because of his lopsided wage.
Similarly, GWS star Cameron would have the pay cuts applied to $1.6 million of his 2020 wage instead of the $1 million average wage over the life of his contract.
Players whose contracts vary by small margins in separate years are likely to have to accept they will have to sacrifice a little more or less.
But given Martin had to lodge his initial asking figure with AFL salary cap chief Ken Wood as a pre-season draft condition, the league was aware of the deal before it was front-ended.
The league has told player managers it can only consider the ramifications of those front and back-ended deals later in the year when it becomes clear how much football can be played.
Players have received the first five months of their salaries and will take a 50 per cent pay cut for the sixth and seventh months of their deals.
From then on they will take a 70 per cent pay cut if football does not resume or 50 per cent pay cuts once footy returns.
Many players are happy to accept differing payments over the life of their contract to help clubs which have more or less cap space than the competition average.
West Coast’s Tim Kelly is likely to have accepted a backended deal to fit into the Eagles’ pay structure, while Carlton’s Mitch McGovern’s deal would likely have been front-ended given the Blues’ cap space.