“I’d do that tomorrow”: Cats star’s mammoth evaluation for out-of-contract Blues gun

Superstar Cats midfielder Patrick Dangerfield has revealed what kind of hypothetical contract he'd offer Blues rising star Sam Walsh.

Walsh, who ranked within the AFL's top 10 for disposals per game and effective disposals per game in 2021, will be Carlton's priority retention when he comes out of contract at the end of the 2022 season.

While the Blues firm as a string chance to re-sign the 21-year-old, there's no doubt other clubs are sure to express interest of their own.

With Walsh likely to demand a mammoth fee in his next deal, a club like Dangerfield's Geelong would need to offer a substantial fee.

When asked what he thinks it would take to lure Walsh away from Carlton, Dangerfield told The Field Podcast: "10 years, 10 million … I'd do that tomorrow".

"I don't think that's an outrageous offer," Dangerfield continued. "He already is in the picture as one of the best players in the game every year for the next 10 years."

However, retired Crows and Cats forward Josh Jenkins cited the upward trajectory of the salary cap over the next 10 years and outlined his decision-making process if he were in Walsh's position.

"I would do it if I was Geelong trying to lure him back to the Surf Coast," Jenkins said on SEN.

"I don't know that I would (take it if I was Walsh). I would not want to lock myself [in], look at Scottie Pippen, he needed the security so he locked himself into a deal, which, five years later down the track was just disgusting.

"I would take my chances if I was Walsh that in five or six years, you can still sign a five-year deal, and then look at the CBA moving forward, we get out of this pandemic, the game starts to make the money back that it has lost and we move forward.

"I would take the chance that that 10 years, 10 million is unders."

With clubs such as North Melbourne - who have been known to dish out premium offer sheets (Dustin Martin Josh Kelly and Jordan De Goey) in recent times - likely to be circling when the time comes for Walsh to consider his next AFL contract, the Blues will undoubtedly need to search deep in their pockets to convince the dazzling ball-getter to stay at Princes Park beyond next season.

A breakout 2021 campaign exponentially inflated Walsh's value to Carlton, who were able to secure the signatures of star duo Patrick Cripps and Harry McKay to estimated high-figure deals.

The Blues have also handed several recruits significant wages to lure them to Princes Park, with the likes of Zach Williams, Mitch McGovern and Adam Saad all reportedly earning top dollar the club.