BRISBANE has a six-year contract offer in front of gun free agent Zac Bailey, who is going to be one of the hottest players on the market this year.
Bailey comes out of contract at the end of this year and AFL.com.au can reveal the Lions have put forward a deal that goes through to the end of 2032 in a bid to keep him at the club.
The Lions have been keen to re-sign the star forward/midfielder but he is set to take time to come to his free agency call as a suite of clubs chase his services.
Bailey was drafted from Norwood and has links in South Australia having originally been from the Northern Territory, with Adelaide and Port Adelaide expected to make tilts for him, while a stack of Victorian clubs will also target the dangerous 26-year-old, including Essendon and Collingwood.
Clubs expect the former first-round pick to garner offers well past the $1.3 million mark per season in the new market, with Bailey kicking 42 goals last year, including 3.6 from 23 disposals in the Grand Final win over Geelong.
"We've got an offer on the table to Zac. We've been in discussion with his management group, Anthony McConville, who does a great job for him," Lions football boss Danny Daly told SEN on Tuesday.
"That's there, but we also understand that that might sit there for a while until his management is ready to come back and discuss it with us."
The offer running until the end of 2032 would put Bailey in the top 13 longest-signed players in the competition, with Giants Sam Taylor and Connor Idun, Hawk Jai Newcombe, North's Luke Davies-Uniacke, Port Adelaide's Connor Rozee, Richmond's Noah Balta, St Kilda's Max King and Bulldog Aaron Naughton all signed until the end of 2032.
New Saint Tom De Koning, Freo's Hayden Young and Crow Josh Worrell are signed until the end of 2033 and Melbourne gun Kysaiah Pickett is contracted until the end of 2034.
Brisbane signed Cam Rayner to a six-year extension at the end of 2024 ahead of his free agency year, while Hugh McCluggage had locked in a seven-year extension at the Lions in his free agency season that year after receiving mega offers from Victorian clubs.
Bailey, Port Adelaide superstar Zak Butters, Carlton No.1 pick Sam Walsh and Gold Coast spearhead Ben King are the leading four free agents in this year's pool, with Bailey entering his ninth year in the competition and the other trio into their eighth.
