FIRST-YEAR Gold Coast coach Stuart Dew says he never considered stripping the captaincy from out-of-contract forward Tom Lynch.

Lynch is arguably the most coveted free agent in the land in a class that includes Jeremy McGovern, Andrew Gaff, Rory Sloane and Ollie Wines.

The Suns promoted the 25-year-old to the co-captaincy, alongside star defender Steven May, after his 66-goal All Australian season, in place of dual Brownlow medallist Gary Ablett. 

May, 26, faced similar speculation last year, but rejected rival clubs' overtures and re-signed at Gold Coast in July for two more years. 

If Lynch is to leave he will follow Ablett, Jaeger O'Meara, Dion Prestia and Adam Saad in departing for a Victorian club, on top of the losses of Harley Bennell (to Fremantle) and Charlie Dixon (Port Adelaide). 

"The captaincy thing with Tom, no question at all, he is fully invested in the footy club," Dew told Sportsday WA radio.

"In this day and age, players are invested where they are and that's all we can ask of him now – and I can't question it now, particularly as our skipper."

Dew said he was "comfortable" with Lynch, a 199cm contested-marking beast who graduated from TAC Cup club Dandenong Stingrays, taking his time making a decision on his future.

"There's been ongoing conversations and certainly the club, Tom and his management are on the same page," he said.

"Externally there is a bit of hysteria, but internally we're comfortable that Tom, like, I think, 10 or 11 of the other players, [is] out of contract and we're not going to concentrate on just one player.

"We're going to look at all players and make sure our environment is one where people want to be."

There is talk the AFL could step in to help deliver a more attractive financial package for Lynch, who could serve as an ambassador for the sport in Queensland.

The Suns, entering their eighth season in 2018, already scored an extra $5.5 million from the AFL last year to help them break even.