Tim Watson thinks Richmond should consider appointing Dustin Martin as captain to throw the triple Norm Smith Medallist a new “challenge”.
Trent Cotchin has skippered the Tigers to three premierships since assuming the role in November 2012 and holds the record for the most games as Richmond captain.
Martin, 30, would be Watson's choice to replace Cotchin if he decides to relinquish the captaincy.
“Trent Cotchin has been an unbelievable leader of this team,” the Essendon great told SEN Breakfast.
“For me, and this might surprise some people, but I would actually go to ‘Dusty’ Martin.
“The reason behind that is I reckon everybody needs to be challenged by something at different stages of their career.
“Just watching him and listening to people talk about him and how he has matured within that group, when you’ve achieved as much as he has, I reckon there’s another way to maybe challenge him.
“I think this would challenge him and I think that it might mean that you get more out of him over the next two or three years than what you might if you didn’t throw some sort of challenge at him, like the captaincy or a different role within the football club.
“Sometimes I look at him and I think the game almost comes too easily to him. Maybe there’s some other way he can project himself onto other players within the team.”
Jack Graham has been touted as a future Richmond captain, but Jordan Lewis would prefer to see the midfielder continue to develop as a leader before stepping into the top job.
“It’s a great point because there’s probably a gap at the moment in terms of the next obvious leader there,” Lewis said.
“There’s been a lot spoken about (Jack) Graham, how they think he’s a future captain.
“He’s 23 at the moment, so he probably needs a few more years to develop into the leader that they want him to be.”