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With the significant contract being offered to the 25-year-old, it may be a no-brainer to jump ship and secure financial freedom, however with the current state of the Saints’ list, will a move to Moorabbin sacrifice any chance of success within the AFL?
“Carlton have told him ‘look, we have to start planning for life without you. While you wrestle with your playing future, we need to get a move on’,” SEN’s Sam Edmund told Crunch Time.
“There have been reports this week about the meeting with TDK and Carlton’s incoming CEO Graham Wright and renewed optimism about that meeting, but Blues powerbrokers are completely in the dark about his decision.
“Truth is he would prefer to stay at Carlton but money is the obvious and significant temptation.
“Carlton wants him to stay but their offer is not budging; $1m a year for seven and it is dwarfed by Saints 1.7 for the same tenure.”
In terms of what things look like for Carlton in 2026 and beyond, Edmund added: “The Blues are active in trade conversations at the moment.
“That’s not to say they will replace like-for-like, but they’re conscious they need runners and ball users.
“They can back out of their conversations if TDK backs out of Saints and resigns.
“The curiosity here is that players won’t tell their clubs. If TDK is set on joining Saints he’s not going to tell them now with half a season to run.
“The only answer he can give is “I’m staying” and he’s not prepared to do that at the moment.”
Planning without TDK. Smart move.