Victorian club offer to make Carlton Blues star Jacob Weitering one of the league’s best-paid players in new mega deal
Carlton Blues defensive custodian Jacob Weitering has reportedly been offered a goliath $12 million over eight years by cross-town rivals St Kilda. Newsbreaker Sam McClure made the claims on the Tradies podcast, however, he was swift to dampen any interest from the star Blue.
"Jacob Weitering is set to turn down one of the biggest offers in football history to stay at Carlton. He's out of contract at the end of next year, he's an unrestricted free agent. Which is exactly the type of player St Kilda are going after."
The 2015 No. 1 draft pick is under contract until the end of 2025, however, recent trends are seeing players moved on a year early to maximise trade value and save salary cap space.
In this scenario, were Weitering to stay another year and then explore his options in free agency, he could send clubs into a bidding war and earn an even bigger contract since the salary cap is increasing by $2 million.
On the other hand, Carlton would only get a first-round pick after the reverse ladder position finish that would potentially slide past Pick 20. Meanwhile, a trade this year would yield a far greater suite of draft picks.
Weitering turns 27 in November, meaning he would be 34 in the final year of an 8-season deal making $1.5 million per year, which in light of his unfortunate fraud scandal last year must be a tempting prospect.
As for what he is worth, it will rely on several factors, particularly as St Kilda is willing to cover his 2025 money and is shaping to have an early draft pick if their 2024 form continues to slide.
As a four-time All-Australian, Weitering will cost St Kilda plenty, so their first-round picks from this year and next year will need to be on the table before negotiations can begin.
Despite most media outlets predicting that the Blues backman will knock back the offer, the club has three targets of their own that this trade could finance. These targets include Will Hayward and the Camporeale twins, whose father-son status means that Carlton can claim them both in the first round.
Beyond Jacob Weitering, is this the start of another St Kilda campaign to raid talent?
Seemingly every season, the Saints are trying to land some big names on the trade market while having a Moneyball approach to late picks and filling out their rookie list.
The wild card that St Kilda may have in this trade is that Stephen Silvagni is now the List Manager at RSEA Park as opposed to IKON Park, where he was the List Manager who selected Weitering in the first place.
Rumblings out of St Kilda this early in the season signal big moves in the off-season.