The Victorian rival who should consider making a move for out-of-favour Bulldog Caleb Daniel

Will Caleb Daniel be at the Bulldogs in 2025?

The ball is seemingly in his court, despite two years to run on a deal at the club.

The All-Australian defender has been marooned in the VFL for most of the season and Nine News reporter Tom Morris expects a tough conversation to take place at the end of the season.

“Caleb Daniel – a very large watch here. All parties are on the same page. There will be a mature conversation at the end of the season,” Morris told SEN Breakfast.

“He’s got two years remaining on a deal at roughly $700,000 per season. He’s an All-Australian, he’s a best and fairest winner – the Bulldogs don’t need to get his salary off the books, so the deal would need to be a good one.

“Now, he’s from South Australia, clearly the link would be strong from the Crows and Port. Reading between the lines, I don’t think either club is going to go after him, but both clubs would listen to a conversation if it got to that.

“I think the first step needs to be taken by Caleb at the end of the year, if indeed he does want to go for more senior opportunities.

“There’s been links of the Pies – I’ve had that link strongly denied to me. I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

Nathan Buckley believes Essendon could benefit from an elite ball user across half-back.

“Where (Daniel) was really good was just sitting off the back of the stoppage and he was so good at knowing when to run and carry and when to sit back and he was a really good distributor,” Buckley said.

“Their half-backs now run the lines a little bit harder. He’s never been a line-breaker, he’s always done it by finding an uncontested mark.

“Which an Essendon would really benefit from a Caleb Daniel, who is really good at ground level, who will find that 20-metre uncontested mark under fierce pressure and you can take the gas out of it.

“If Daniel was in Essendon’s side right now, that would help some of the issues they’re facing right now.”

Daniel has played 10 games for the Bulldogs this season, but has been subbed on or off in five of them.