TASMANIA has approached clubs over a novel trade model that would see rivals effectively buy the Devils' prized early draft picks by continuing to pay the contracts of players they trade to the expansion side.

Under the Devils' list concessions, the club has been given picks No.1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 and 13 in 2027 as well as picks No.5 and 9 in 2028 and 2029. Six selections – picks No.5, 7, 11 and 13 in 2027 and both No.5 picks in 2028 and 2029 – must be traded. While the Devils have up to two years to trade the picks, they must be used in deals with other clubs.

AFL.com.au can reveal the Devils have had discussions with a number of clubs and dangled their six 'roll and trade' picks as part of a strategy that would allow Tasmania to leverage its significant draft hand without placing immediate pressure on its salary cap.

Under the plan that rivals are now considering, the Devils have told clubs they would be willing to swap their early picks in exchange for experienced players who have significant contracts beyond 2027. The catch for rival clubs is they would have to continue to pay a large majority of those players' salaries, even after they join the Devils.

It would be a form of 'pick purchasing' for rival clubs, while it would allow Tasmania to recruit senior and experienced players at a lower price, flipping the traditional 'salary dump' model on its head.

Rather than a club attaching a draft pick to offload an unwanted contract, like Gold Coast did with pick No.7 and Jack Bowes' lucrative contract to Geelong in 2022, Tasmania would use its coveted draft capital as the asset, with rival clubs essentially purchasing top draft picks by subsidising the contracts of players heading to the Devils.

As examples, players like Richmond's Jacob Hopper and Essendon's Darcy Parish are contracted at their current clubs past Tasmania's entrance date, with both signed until the end of 2029 on deals around $700,000 a season. Under this plan, their clubs could trade them to the Devils but still pay $600,000 per year of their remaining deals in exchange for one of Tasmania's must-trade early picks.

The proposal has already sparked interest from rival clubs, who are seeing it as an opportunity to grab a prized pick off the Devils in a compromised draft for the cost of continuing to pay a player's deal at another club.

The Devils have spoken to other clubs in recent weeks and months about the plan, with Tasmania pushing to get verbal agreements with as many players as possible this year. Tasmania has made it clear it would be willing to trade all six of its 'roll and trade' picks in 2027 – including the two No.5 picks in the 2028 and 2029 drafts – to get in experience at a low cost in salary cap terms.

Bringing in experienced players under that model would help protect the Devils salary cap, which has to be future proofed for when their stack of early draft picks seek significant pay increases after their initial three-year deals.

It is already common practice for clubs to pay portions of contracts of players who have been traded; Melbourne is paying roughly half of Clayton Oliver's remaining salary over five seasons at Greater Western Sydney and St Kilda is also paying a chunk of Jack Steele's salary at the Demons.

In March, AFL.com.au revealed that Collingwood had paid out the remaining money of Brodie Grundy's deal, with the Pies having been on the hook for about $350,000 a season until the end of 2027, even after trading him to Melbourne, who then offloaded him to Sydney. The Pies had also contributed $300,000 a year to Adam Treloar's contract for his first five years at the Western Bulldogs.

Deals that see money being paid to players after they have moved clubs have generally required closer inspection from the AFL before being approved.