The Western Bulldogs have lodged free-agency paperwork for Port Adelaide star Zak Butters, and a five-club mega-deal supporting the move has been approved by the AFL, major outlets reported on Friday morning.
ABC Sport’s live trade blog said AFL.com.au’s Cal Twomey reported the Bulldogs lodged the restricted free-agent paperwork shortly after 11am AEDT on Friday 9 October, the final day of the free-agency window. Port Adelaide now has three days to match the Western Bulldogs’ contract offer or accept draft compensation.
Zero Hanger, citing AFL Media, said the offer is a nine-year deal at the club Butters grew up supporting. Earlier AFL.com.au reporting had flagged that the Dogs would lodge before Friday’s 5pm deadline.
Minutes later, ABC Sport reported that Twomey and Channel 7’s Tom Morris both said the AFL had approved a five-club mega-deal involving Port Adelaide, the Western Bulldogs, Melbourne, Hawthorn and Carlton. Zero Hanger likewise reported AFL Media had given the trade the tick of approval after about 24 hours of assessment.
According to ABC Sport’s breakdown of the reported deal, Hawthorn’s Finn Maginness and Carlton’s Hudson O’Keeffe are set to join the Western Bulldogs, while Melbourne moves up the draft order and Port Adelaide gathers a heavy haul of early picks once Butters compensation is layered in.
ABC Sport said Port is reported to receive picks 6 and 10 plus Melbourne’s 2027 first-rounder and the Bulldogs’ 2028 first-rounder, while giving up pick 4 and a stack of later and future selections. The Bulldogs are reported to give up picks 12 and 31 and their 2028 first-rounder while landing Maginness, O’Keeffe and a suite of future picks. Exact pick numbers can still move when the formal trade is lodged in the AFL system.
ABC Sport’s Dean Bilton wrote that Port would, once Butters compensation arrives, sit with picks 5, 6 and 10 this year plus extra future first-rounders — a haul aimed at academy and father-son pipeline players such as Zemes Pilot and Louis Salopek. Bilton also said matching the Dogs’ Butters offer was “highly unlikely”.
The free-agency lodgement and mega-deal are separate processes: Butters’ move still hinges on Port’s match-or-take-compensation window, while the five-club trade clears the surrounding draft-and-player traffic that clubs had workshopped with the League.
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