A quartet of AFL clubs are believed to be interested in wantaway Suns defender Jack Bowes, with Gold Coast reportedly open to parting with Pick 7 to help broker a deal and aid their salary cap situation.
Earlier this week it emerged that Bowes was open to opportunities elsewhere despite being signed to the Queensland club until the end of the 2024 season.
A shoulder injury delayed his 2022, limiting Bowes to just the five games after returning to the top flight in Round 14 as a medical sub.
The Cairns product was held in the VFL for a number of weeks, adding to a frustrating sixth season with the Suns.
The former 10th overall pick has shown plenty of poise in Stuart Dew's backline, and now looms as a formidable trade option for any emerging keen suitors.
In a revelation that is sure only further satisfy interested clubs, the Suns are willing to package Bowes and their 2022 first-round selection of Pick 7 in a trade, according to AFL.com.au'sย Cal Twomey.
The move is to see Bowes' heavily back-ended contract be scrapped from the Suns' books, hoping the "sweetener" of Pick 7 would see rival clubs tempted to take on the 24-year-old's hefty financial fee.
According to Twomey, Essendon, Geelong, St Kilda and Hawthorn are all in the mix.
โGold Coast is prepared to offload pick number 7 at this yearโs draft as well as Jack Bowes to a club willing to take on the remaining two years of Bowesโ salary,โ Twomey toldย SEN.ย
โHe has two years left on that deal which is heavily back-ended, so itโs a lot of money, but the sweetener is clubs would essentially be buying that pick 7 off the Suns.
โThereโs a few in the market for it. Hawthorn, St Kilda, Geelong and Essendon have all shown interest in doing it, and of course getting Bowes too.
โHe had a tough year with his shoulder injury, but the Suns are getting ahead of their salary cap pressure and trying to ease that this trade period.
โThe league is willing to let these one-sided salary dumps go through this year than ever before.
โPick 7 being involved though is the big thing because clubs are going to want to take that off their hands.โ
Bowes has played 83 games since making his AFL debut with the Suns in 2017, joining the club as one of four top 10 selections from that year, with Jack Scrimshaw (Pick 7) and Will Brodie (Pick 9) already departing the club in moves to Hawthorn and Fremantle respectively.
The Suns' salary situation may also be eased with the potential departures of Izak Rankine (Adelaide) Jeremy Sharp (Fremantle/West Coast), Brayden Fiorini (Collingwood) and Josh Corbett (Fremantle).
