THE WESTERN Bulldogs are confident they can attract A-Grade targets like Port Adelaide superstar Zak Butters and other in-demand free agents this off-season, while still preserving flexibility in their salary cap well into the future.

However, the Bulldogs remain none the wiser as to where they sit in the Butters sweepstakes as the club vies for his sought-after signature with fellow suitors Geelong and Richmond, along with his current club Port Adelaide.

Speaking on AFL.com.au's trade and draft show Gettable this week, the Bulldogs' list boss Michael Regan said he was yet to get an indication as to whether the club was a realistic chance of landing Butters at season's end.

"Every club's in conversation with different management groups and Zak has a fantastic management group in Kapital who we've had some conversations with around all of their playing stocks," Regan said.

"That's how it works at this stage of the year. You're not really having direct conversations with players throughout a season, it's one where you go through their management group and you trust them to handle their players and they do a great job."

The Bulldogs have also registered an interest in Adelaide free agent Jordon Butts as key defensive depth, alongside a host of rucks to support All-Australian Tim English, confident they can fit such deals into their salary cap.

The club already has star talent like Marcus Bontempelli (2029), Sam Darcy (2029), Joel Freijah (2029), Bailey Dale (2029), Tim English (2029), Ed Richards (2030) and Aaron Naughton (2032) tied to long-term deals and now hopes to add the likes of Butters and Butts to that group.

"Preceding my time, [football boss] Sam Power, [ex-recruiting boss] Dom Milesi and [chief executive] Ameet Bains have done a fantastic job managing the cap to the point where we can execute that as well as preserve some flexibility into the future," Regan said.

Butters has firmly established himself as one of the best players in the League following another stellar campaign where he's averaged 30.3 disposals and 6.3 clearances, seeing him rise to be the third-highest-rated player in the AFL behind only Bontempelli and Melbourne skipper Max Gawn.

Port Adelaide is subsequently well equipped to match any rival Butters offer, should he opt to depart at season's end, potentially setting the Power up to secure one of the biggest trade hauls in memory for a single player.

While the Bulldogs are yet to hold any conversations around whether that will be the case, Regan said the club was expecting that outcome and suggested the League's new bidding rules may create a more difficult marketplace to trade for blue-chip talent.

"Everything that's been put out publicly by Port Adelaide – and we haven't had a direct conversation with Port Adelaide or any other club at this point on any player – has been that they will match," Regan said.

"Now, the variable there that becomes interesting is what's happened with the rules and what's happened with pick matching and accessing higher picks. Even those clubs that hold those picks are going to have a pretty difficult decision in front of them around whether they trade those picks and get an extra compensation pick if a player is bid on early in the draft.

"That's a part that's going to become fascinating … to see whether top five picks and high-end trades can actually go through anymore, because it's become really restrictive and hard to do that.

"More broadly, we're hearing conversation around the fixture and some innovation in games. List sizes and list mechanics, just to add a little minion voice in the back of the room to some of that conversation, we need to look at different levers.

"There's broad conversation around recruiters missed this player or that player, and we do – there's no glass jaw here – but what we would like is more opportunity to try players. Whether it's an old supplementary list, Sam Mitchell mentioned something the other day around having unlimited list sizes but within your salary cap, I know Luke Beveridge has mentioned a couple of ideas he's had, it's probably time to start thinking about that.

"The game is getting bigger and we would like to give more players an opportunity at some level in the AFL, but right now the mechanics are pretty restrictive. That extends out to trade as well."

However, while the Western Bulldogs have made no secret of their attempts to secure a move for Butters at season's end, the club believes the time for talking in regard to his future is now over.

"I think we're at a point in the year and in the cycle with any free agent where a lot's been said and there's probably a lot more to say, to be honest," Regan said.

"It's hitting that point where it's becoming a little bit disrespectful to Port Adelaide and to the 44 players on our list.

"We, along with every club in Victoria, have an interest in high-end talent who might want to come back here and we will pursue anyone who we think can help our list."