CARLTON football manager Chris Davies says the club's desire to boost its running power and ability to move the ball accurately by foot prompted its pursuit of GWS defender Lachie Whitfield.

Whitfield has a year remaining on his contract, but the Giants have said they're open to exploring a move for the 32-year-old.

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Speaking to Continental Tyres AFL Trade Radio on Monday morning, Davies confirmed Carlton's interest.

"Along with the key position stuff, we've been talking about getting a little bit more run and kicking ability in the team," Davies said.

"That has really sparked our interest in Lachie given some of the conversations around him over the last two or three weeks.

"If Lachie was to become an available player on the market, we would certainly have an interest in bringing someone like him into the club."

After acquiring Sydney's Joel Amartey via free agency on Friday, the Blues are also juggling the chase for points to cover the cost for father-son prospect Cody Walker.

The son of former Blue, Andrew, Cody is expected to go at the very pointy end of next month's Telstra AFL Draft, with Davies confident the club will be able to match any early bid.

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"We've prepared as well as we could have for rules we didn't know were coming in," he said.

"We knew the AFL were going to change the rules. We didn't quite know the depth they would get to with those rules.

"Last year's trade period we planned as well as we can. We've got in between now and the draft to make sure when the draft comes we've got enough points to obtain Cody, and we'll work through the next period of time trying to achieve that."

One move that will have to wait a little longer is obtaining the signature of captain Patrick Cripps, who becomes a free agent in 2027.

Davies said he was unsure whether the dual Brownlow Medal winner would lead the team next season, with the club keen to begin talks on a new deal once the dust has settled on the trade and draft periods.

"I reckon that's (captaincy) something that will be going around in his mind over the off-season. I'm not entirely sure what he wants for next year.

"What I did see this year was he did a fantastic job with a group who needed leadership at different points through the year.

"You can imagine at 1-8 when the club was on its knees from a performance perspective, he did an amazing job in keeping the group up."

In light of speculation surrounding Amartey's contract figure of recent weeks, Davies said he would be fine if player salaries were made public, although he was doubtful it would get off the ground.

"I'm not sure the competition is there yet, but it would have saved me about a month's worth of frustration, there's no doubt about that," he said.

"I don't think it would be a bad thing, as long as everyone is in that situation. I'm sure the AFLPA would rail against that, but I'm certainly one for more transparency than less."