This Port star is contracted until the end of 2026, but Victorian clubs are already circling

He completed a strong running session in Melbourne on Friday morning with Port Adelaide staff and stayed in Victoria to see family before flying back to Adelaide on Sunday.

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Port believe that, at the very least, Butters will remain at the club until the end of 2026.

“I imagine at that point he is going to be a restricted free agent, so we’ve got control of that situation anyway. But there’s no doubt that Zak is going to get paid,” football boss Chris Davies told SEN when asked about the situation recently.

“If there are clubs who are providing inflationary pressures to others, that gets well known pretty quick. For the teams desperate to land players, sometimes if they don’t, it’s not overly helpful because it does create some inflationary pressure across the competition we’ve all got to deal with.”

Hawthorn, who have Carlton’s first-round pick in the upcoming draft, have made it no secret that they want to add to their midfield depth. The Hawks also have a war chest of money, given how even their playing list is and how many players are performing above their contract.

Richmond and Essendon both have two first-round picks this year. The Tigers have their own and North Melbourne’s, while the Bombers have theirs and Melbourne’s. It’s conceivable they could both end up with two top-10 picks.

Richmond’s No.1 pick from last year’s draft, emerging star Sam Lalor, also hails from Bacchus Marsh.

“We have got no restriction around keeping the players that we are wanting to keep,” Davies added in his radio interview.

“Our salary cap has been well managed over the time. We certainly have the money if we want to keep the players who are out of contract.

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“Kane Farrell is out of contract at this end of the year, Miles Bergman … there are some players that we have a more immediate need to get re-signed.

“Zak will be certainly a player that we will want to keep when the time comes. With where the dollars are going in the AFL, all of those guys are going to get paid, and fair play to them because they have all performed pretty well.”

Kapital Sports declined to comment.