"At the moment we've got a few things going on. Once we get that right I'm sure Paddy Dangerfield will want to be a long-term player with the Crows," Ricciuto told AFL.com.au on Monday.
But asked directly about the possibility of a trade, Ricciuto was clear.
"I didn't say there'd be no chance, and I didn't say we'd trade him. What I said was we have to get everything right so that it's a fair call to ask him to stay long term,' he said.
"We'll get the contract right, we'll pay [Dangerfield] what he needs to be paid, but we've got to get the culture, environment and everything right so that he can win a premiership, because he wants to win one," Ricciuto said.
AFL.com.au understands Dangerfield is not considering a move away from the Crows, despite the persistent speculation.
Dangerfield told the Nine Network last Thursday that speculation about his future - and that of teammates Taylor Walker and Rory Sloane - at the Crows was "ridiculous"
Meanwhile, Ricciuto insisted the Crows "didn't pull the trigger too early" on Sanderson, despite admitting the club wasn't 100 per cent sure of Simon Goodwin's status at the time.
Goodwin agreed to terms with Melbourne to become Paul Roos' successor the very next day.
"There's more coaches out there than Simon Goodwin, we don't need an ex-Adelaide guy to coach the Adelaide Football Club.
"There's other guys that have been out there (who) have been looking to be a head coach for a while and some that have done it before.
Ricciuto said the board's focus was on the structure of the entire football department and not just the coach.
"It's about the whole footy department now, it's not about one man. One man can't do the job anymore. It's a number of blokes that have got to lead the footy club," he said.