IN THE backdrop of long-term deals to star duo Michael Hurley and Paddy Ryder, Essendon has quietly tied up several of its younger players.

The club won't reveal who the players are yet, but chief executive Ian Robson said the Bombers have secured some recent draftees to one or two-year extensions.

"There has been some signatures that have been secured of some of our younger players that we haven't yet announced," Robson told AFL.com.au.

Second-year Bombers Alex Browne, Luke Davis, Michael Ross and Ariel Steinberg are all due to come out of contract at the end of this season, while defender Michael Hibberd's two-year deal also expires at the end of 2012.

Robson said Essendon wanted to give assurances to several players who were coming off contract and are yet to experience many senior opportunities.

"We certainly wanted to give them a sense of our ongoing commitment so they enter the second half of the year without a nervous mindset about where they stand," he said.

"We've been quietly dealing with those guys and when we feel the time is right we'll make some announcements about those guys."

Scott Gumbleton isn't one of the Bombers who has re-signed, with the club set to wait until later in the year before discussing a new deal for the key position player.

The 23-year-old has played just 22 games in six injury-interrupted seasons at the Bombers but has returned recently with some encouraging performances in the VFL.

Robson put Gumbleton in the same category as Bomber veterans David Hille, Dustin Fletcher and Mark McVeigh in that the club would "sit back and see how the year plays out."

"We all have a fundamental enduring belief in Scott's football ability," Robson said.

"The question that he's continuing to find ways to respond positively to is 'Will his body allow him to do what we know he's capable of?'"

Callum Twomey is a reporter for the AFL website. Follow him on @AFL_CalTwomey.