It was reported on Tuesday that as many as six AFL players earned a seven-figure sum in 2021 - a significant portion of the $13.4m salary cap.
But while fans and media alike love to debate who is worth what, it's not as simple as ranking the six best players in the competition and paying them accordingly.
In addition to what a player offers on the field, there are a number of factors that determine just how much they're worth - age, whether they're on an upward or downward spiral, other star players to pay at their club, whether they're in their 'home' state and when they signed their contract, to name but a few.
Here, we look at the players reported to be on $1m or more in 2021 - Dustin Martin, Lance Franklin, Jeremy McGovern, Brodie Grundy and Nat Fyfe - plus a couple tipped to reach that mark in 2022 - Christian Petracca and Tom Lynch - and determine whether it's money well spent ...
2. Lance Franklin
Let's get straight to the point - entering the 2022 season as a 35-year-old, 'Buddy' is not worth upwards of $1m.
However, it would be remiss of us to look at 2022 in isolation and not the deal as a whole.
Buddy's move to Sydney at the end of 2013 sent shockwaves through the AFL. He was a superstar at Hawthorn, arguably the game's most exciting and marketable player, and he left that season's premiership-winning side.
While Buddy leaving wasn't a huge shock in itself - speculation around his contract was the biggest story throughout the year - the fact he went to Sydney, and not GWS, certainly was.
The nine-year, $10m deal also had many questioning whether Buddy would see it out, given he was already 26 at the time.
But, even with some injury problems in his time at the Swans, there's no doubt Buddy has played some very good football.
Since moving to the harbour city, Buddy has played 136 games and kicked 415 goals (and he's just five short of the magical 1000-goal mark) - leading the Swans' goalkicking tally six times, matching what he did at Hawthorn.
He's also been named an All Australian four times, including as captain in 2018, and won two Coleman Medals - again, he was also a four-time All Australian and two-time Coleman Medal winner at the Hawks.
Crucially, while the Swans haven't won a premiership in his time at the club, they have played in two grand finals. Buddy was more than serviceable in both games too, kicking 4.2 from 14 disposals in 2014 and 1.1 from 16 disposals in 2016.
Not only has Buddy been a star on the field, but he's so incredibly marketable off the field and single-handedly brings people through the gates. In many ways, this is unquantifiable (although I'm sure smarter economists than this writer could give you a decent estimate).
The other factor to consider is how, sometimes, you have to pay overs to pry someone from another club.
As I said above, Buddy was a genuine superstar at the Hawks and they won the premiership in the year he left - if you come to him with an offer similar to what he can get at a club he's already settled at, there's no chance he makes the move.
Add to that how keen GWS were to land him as their marquee player, and it's no wonder he was offered such a big deal - a deal that's also been heavily-backended.
So when we look at Buddy's contract in 2022, we aren't questioning whether or not he's in the game's best few players - because he's not (although he'll still cause headaches for opposition coaches, having kicked 51 goals from 18 games in 2021). Instead, we need to look at the whole deal and what he's brought to Sydney since 2014.
Verdict: In isolation, he's not worth $1m+ in 2022. But looking at the whole picture, it's more than fair.
