RICHMOND has thrown its hat in the ring for Zak Butters, with the cashed-up Tigers ready to hit the free agency market.
Butters has been strongly linked to the Western Bulldogs and Geelong for nearly a year as the Port Adelaide gamebreaker weighs his future, but it can be revealed the Tigers are also in the chase for the superstar midfielder.
Richmond is understood to be willing to put forward what would be the biggest deal in football history to try and lure Butters to Punt Road, with a price tag of close to $2 million expected for at least eight years for his next contract.
The Tigers are believed to have managed their salary cap in 2025 and 2026 to be able to use the under-spend rules to bank cap space and use aggressively in the pursuit of rival guns to speed up their rebuild and would also be able to front-end any major deal, which can be an incentive for players.
While the Tigers would be considered an outsider in the pursuit of the 25-year-old Port matchwinner, the club has spruiked its upgraded Punt Road facilities, metropolitan location, recent flag success and vast number of young draft talents in previous years to make it an appealing destination club.
Coach Adem Yze and chief executive Shane Dunne have both recently said the Tigers were ready to attack the player market as soon as this year after taking nine top-30 draft picks over the past two off-seasons.
They also pointed to the club's specific targeting of players from 2016-2019 before and during Richmond's flag era as evidence the club knew when to pull the trigger on rival raids.
Butters has said he will make his call at the end of the year, with the Bulldogs considered a frontrunner and the Cats also with significant interest, while Hawthorn and Collingwood have also been keen to get involved in the chase.
The three-time best and fairest winner, who is Port's stand-in captain with skipper Connor Rozee missing three months with a hamstring injury, said recently that winning was important in his decision.
"Everyone here wants to win premierships, everyone at every other club wants to win premierships as well. No matter where I am, I want to win and I loved playing with that team today (against Essendon in round two). Family's important as well, it's been important to me for a long time," he told ABC Sport.
"My mum and dad are over this weekend so it's good to see them. It's obviously a big decision but I'm not going to make it any time soon."
Port Adelaide put a deal that stretched as long as eight years to Butters around 12 months ago, which would have been the most lucrative contract in AFL history had he signed it. Coach Josh Carr has said the Power will match any offer for Butters and force a trade if he departs.