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Full Noise by SN
Pay up: Port confirm they'll match any Butters free agency bid
SEN • March 20th, 2026 10:57 am
Port Adelaide coach Josh Carr has confirmed the Power will match any free agency bid on Zak Butters this off-season.
The 25-year-old is out of contract at the end of the 2026 season and is being chased by a raft of Victorian clubs in the hope of luring him back to his home state.
While Butters can depart Alberton as a free agent, his restricted status means the Power can match any bid, forcing his club of choice to trade for his services instead.
After three first-round picks and a player were offered by Hawthorn to Essendon for Zach Merrett last trade period, Power great Kane Cornes thinks that any Butters trade would have to start with four first-rounders.
The Western Bulldogs are one club linked closely to the Darley product, and Dogs coach Luke Beveridge spoke about Butters earlier this week, confirming his club’s interest in the midfielder.
Speaking to Carr on SEN Fireball, Cornes urged the Port Adelaide coach to push back on rival coaches speaking about his player before he reaffirmed the club’s stance on how they’ll handle a potential departure.
Cornes: “I want some fight, I want some anger around the Zak Butters stuff.
“You're getting asked, but so is everyone else, there’s millions of articles on it.
“Can we have some fight? Say, ‘He’s our player, if you want to trade for him, we’re going to match it. Good luck, give us your four first round picks if there’s three available for Zach Merrett’.
“This is going to get nasty, this is going to get ugly. Is there a part of you that wants to push back on rival coaches that keep talking about your player?”
Carr: “Oh, not really.
“I don't need to push back on opposition coaches. I know Bevo spoke about him the other day, but we talk to players all the time, we get that.
“But what we're clear on is it's about Zak, right? It's about what we do for Zak here.
“It's not about what we say externally. It's about how we look after Zak and what the culture we are building at this football club to make sure that Zak is happy with us.
“We've been vocal, I guess… we’ve spoken about a number of different strategies with our list management.
“But at the same time, I think everyone knows where we sit with Zak, and we're not just going to let him go.
“If he chose to leave us, then we know what that looks like. We know that we will match anything.”
If Butters does leave the Power, the Bulldogs are considered a front-runner, while all of Geelong, Collingwood and Hawthorn are also set to aggressively pursue the superstar.
