While not specifically standing behind recent calls for the introduction of a free agency period, Clarkson said it was clear that the issue needed to be addressed.
"I think what's happened over the last three or four years is that it's been very, very difficult for players to move from club to club," Clarkson said on Thursday.
"Not that as a group of clubs we necessarily want a lot of movement, but in terms of restraint of trade and opportunities for players, there needs to be probably a little more flexibility.
"Whether that comes through a different mechanism by which players can [be traded] and that becomes more fluid – where you could trade future draft picks, for instance, or whether it be a period of free agency – I think those sorts of things are going to be looked at over the next couple of years."
Calls for a review of the current player exchange system intensified following a quiet trade week last year that saw just six players switch clubs.
The Hawks coach doesn't have a preferred model of how an overhaul of the system might work, but was confident the three main bodies involved would come to an equitable solution.
"The AFL has got some pretty smart gurus in there who will make good decisions in terms of what is the best thing to go forward," he said.
"I know the AFL has a really good working relationship with the coaches' association and the players' association … Between those three bodies I'm sure they'll come up with a decision that means that players have got greater freedom to move from club to club when their opportunities are lacking at the club they're at.
"I would support anything that the AFL thinks … is in the best interests of the 16 AFL clubs and its players."
