ESSENDON has rewarded emerging star Sam Durham with a new deal, extending the midfielder's contract to the end of 2032.
Durham was already signed up for this season and two more years until the end of 2028, but AFL.com.au can reveal the 24-year-old has committed for four more years.
The new deal, taking in the next two years, will be the most lucrative deal the Bombers have signed in club history and will run through to when Durham is 31.
Securing the new long-term extension will see the fearless midfielder forgo his free agency rights, which would have been reached at the end of 2028.
It also takes him out of the conversation for Tasmania, which has rights to any out of contract player in 2027 and 2028 as a free agent.
He has been one of the leading mid-season draft success stories since its reintroduction in 2019, with Durham picked out of Richmond's VFL program in 2021 and playing seven games in the back end of that year.
Since then, Durham has played 84 out of a possible 91 games and last year finished third in the Bombers' best and fairest.
His extension will make him the longest signed Bomber, and put him in the top-20 longest signed players in the competition.
It follows Isaac Kako's recent re-signing, with the small forward adding two years to his deal until the end of 2029.
Bombers coach Brad Scott said this week that Durham's rise into the game's next tier of midfielders would be aided by the return of injury-hit teammates Darcy Parish and Jye Caldwell.
"If you're trying to put together a prototypical modern day AFL midfielder, it would look something like Sam Durham. He's got a great combination of [being] big, strong and super quick, with a great mix of speed and endurance as well. Great overhead, good at ground level. He's a fairly complete player," Scott said.
"But a lot's been asked of him over the last year or two. I think the biggest improvement for him personally will come from the players that are around him. Getting Parish and Caldwell back will have a big boost for Sam."
