One Western Bulldogs star is reportedly being offered "lifetime deals from rival clubs", while another has given the club no indication of his intentions beyond 2024.
The Bulldogs have a handful of key players still unsigned beyond this season, with Jamarra Ugle-Hagan, Tim English and Bailey Smith all key retention targets for the Footscray-based club.
Both Ugle-Hagan and English have recently been speculated to be on the verge of recommitting to the club, with the latter expected to turn his back on free agency and likely interest from Western Australia to re-sign for 2025 and beyond.
Ugle-Hagan has garnered reported external interest, with Hawthorn and Richmond both tied to the former No.1 pick, however is also believed to be edging closer to a potential short-term extension.
The young forward's agent, Robbie D'Orazio, has toldย Fox Footyย that his client is "certainly not in a rush on that deal" and that "those talks are progressing but slowly", per reporter Jon Ralph.
Ralph also revealed while the Dogs and Ugle-Hagan sit "hundreds of thousands of dollars apart" in their discussions, rivals are beginning to table deals of their own in the range of 11-12 years.
Speaking on Friday night, Ralph said while Ugle-Hagan remains likely to stay with the Bulldogs, slow talks and rival offers are playing their part in potentially disrupting that outcome.
"The Dogs' contract talks are truly fascinating. I think the accepted wisdom is that [Ugle-Hagan] is close to a two-year deal," Ralph said on Fox's broadcast.
"I can tell you today that he's been offered lifetime deals from rival clubs. So four years until free agency and then another seven or eight on top of that. So as much as 11 or 12 years (have been offered).
"I still think he wants to stay and he will stay. I think they're hundreds of thousands of dollars apart per year on their current contract offer."
Western Bulldogs CEO Ameet Bains shed some light on the situations surrounding the club's trio of off-contract stars, stating Ugle-Hagan and English are "really close" to recommitting and that the Dogs are 'hopeful' pen is put to paper soon.
Bains said the both Ugle-Hagan and English have given an inclination they want to stay in the blue, white and red, tellingย AFL Nation talking are ongoing.
"Tim is progressing really well in terms of staying at the club," Bains said,
"With all the guys that are out of contract, particularly those high-profile ones, we're really keen to see them continue on at the Bulldogs. The starting premise is when you have really good players, you want to keep them. The starting point is you're always hellbent on retaining the players.
"With Jamarra and Tim, the positive aspect is they both want to stay at the club and they've articulated that.
"It's not done until the deal's done, and there's obviously some back and forth on that, but that's a really healthy starting point."
Bains has revealed that the club has been given no indication of Smith's intentions for the future, with the Dogs midfielder currently prioritising his rehabilitation from a season-ending knee injury.
Smith is another unsigned Bulldogs expected to gain interest from other clubs, with Bains and the Dogs currently in the dark in regards to the young gun's thinking.
"Bailey is a different case," Bains added.
"Our approach with that has been to offer a contract to him, we're really keen to retain him. He's had that but at the same time we don't want to put any undue pressure on him knowing that the physical part of his rehab and the next few weeks are really important for him."
The Bulldogs also have 2022 first-round pick Jedd Busslinger, veteran Jason Johannisen, forward Rhylee West, defender Buku Khamis and second-year forward Charlie Clarke, among others, unsigned beyond this year.
