Jade Gresham is set to go into the final day of free agency without his move to Essendon complete after another day of waiting on Thursday.
Despite plenty of promise from Adrian Dodoro, the Bombers are yet to formally table an offer for St Kilda to respond to.
It became public earlier this week that the 26-year-old wanted a fresh start in a move to Essendon. But given Gresham is a restricted free agent, the Saints can match Essendon’s offer if unsatisfied with the compensation pick.
The free agency window closes on Friday. However, if Essendon tables a deal on Friday, St Kilda has 72 hours to match the offer. That would set a deadline of Monday and if matched, the clubs then have two days to sort a trade before Wednesday’s deadline.
Adrian Dodoro told AFL Trade Radio on Monday that a deal would be lodged imminently.
“We’ll probably do that in the next 24 hours, we’re just tinkering a little bit with some stuff we need to discuss with his management,” Dodoro said at the time.
But there’s still no public offer and the clock is ticking on Gresham’s wish for a fresh start.
SEN Chief Sports Reporter Sam Edmund said: “For all the talk around how he gets from St Kilda to Essendon, who do have that interest as a restricted free agent, still nothing from Adrian Dodoro as of Thursday afternoon.
The compensation pick St Kilda will gain from Gresham’s departure will be determined by his new salary at Essendon, as well as a collection of other factors.
News Corp reported on Thursday the Bombers could attempt to walk Gresham to the pre-season draft in a similar fashion to how Carlton landed Jack Martin in 2019.
Essendon has already landed Ben McKay and Todd Goldstein as free agents and has more work to do at the trade table next week, most notably with contracted Power winger Xavier Duursma.
The free agency window closes at 5:00pm AEDT on Friday.