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ST KILDA veteran Sam Fisher's career is set to be in limbo until at least the end of this year's NAB AFL Trade Period.

Fisher, who is out of contract as an unrestricted free agent, managed just 12 games in 2016 due to hamstring issues in the second half of the year, taking his tally to just 46 appearances over the past four seasons.

The 34-year-old has expressed a desire to take his career into an 14th season with the Saints, but the club's chief operating officer Ameet Bains told NAB AFL Trade Radio on Thursday, that Fisher's future was still up in the air.

"It has been a difficult one, Sam (Fisher) is a champion of the club," he said.

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"He was able to play this year and still performed at a very high level.

"We've had pretty transparent discussions with Sam and his management in the back half of the year, and we're in agreement that we need time to work through it."

Bains also revealed that the Saints were keen to get another tall backman into the club if the right deal came up during the next week.

St Kilda will finally get last year's star recruit Jake Carlisle onto the park this year after his return from an ASADA suspension, but with youngster Hugh Goddard on his way back from an Achilles injury, Bains said the club wanted to look at its options.

"We certainly think we need some support in that area," he said.

"We've had to play guys like Sam Fisher, Sam Gilbert, and Sean Dempster (there) in key defensive posts, when it's probably been unfair to them given their height and size.

"Obviously (Jake) Carlisle will make a big difference to that.

"It's been pleasing that he's come back in the last three or four weeks in really good shape both mentally and physically.

"There's still an opportunity to have another key defender there, but with Jake's return, it's not as critical as it might have been."