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Trade talk: Edmund’s mail about free agent Draper’s next move
SEN • July 23rd, 2025 7:44 pm
Essendon’s Sam Draper could be off to Brisbane this off-season as an unrestricted free agent, according to SEN’s Sam Edmund.
The 26-year-old’s contract ends at Essendon in the coming months, and he may not add to the 78 games he’s played in red and black as he’s sidelined with an Achilles injury.
While the Bombers are still speaking constantly to Draper’s management, no decision Edmund believing that he’s now more likely to head to the Lions despite continuing to rehab his injury at The Hangar.
“With Sam Draper, my mail is he's headed for Brisbane,” Edmund said on SEN Afternoons.
“Now, there's nothing formal on that. Essendon are still in regular dialogue with his management, and they did meet as recently as this week.
“The line from the Draper camp is that the ruckman is still making up his mind.
“You may think that if he's going and he's not playing that it'd be easier for him to perhaps do what basically no player does these days and say as much if they're leaving.
“But he's in at the club almost every day, rehabbing, training and doing strength work, so it would make for a pretty awkward end of the season if he was to state his intention to leave.
The main reason behind Draper’s likely move in Edmund’s eyes is the financial offer tabled by the Lions, which he believes is superior to the one in front of him currently at Essendon.
Edmund doesn’t expect Draper to be the only free agent that the Lions look like adding with West Coast captain Oscar Allen also seemingly headed to the Gabba.
“But the Brisbane offer is excellent, and financially, I'm told it's superior to the Essendon one. He would leave as a free agent,” Edmund explained.
“We know Brisbane are actually pretty active in the ruck space given the concern over Oscar McInerney and the longevity with his back.
“They'll get Oscar Allen. They've gone after Reilly O'Brien, and they're going after Sam Draper as well.
“There are a few irons in a few fires, and they’re for the here and now. They're pretty big players in the trade and free agency space.”
Edmund previously reported that there was approximately a $100,000 a season gap between the two offers he’s currently weighing up.
