Cloke and Goddard are restricted free agents, so Collingwood and St Kilda have some say in what happens from here. Should they accept an offer to play elsewhere, the clubs can match the offer or negotiate some sort of 'win-win' trade.
But not Montagna. His standing as an uncontracted player come the end of the season means the Saints have waived the right to trade him. His rights as a free agent over-ride St Kilda's right to trade him.
The Saints remain confident they can keep all their required players in 2013. In addition to Goddard and Montagna, Jason Blake, Raphael Clarke, Lenny Hayes, Justin Koschitzke and Stephen Milne have yet to put pen to paper.
Earlier this year, Montagna was supremely confident of re-signing with the Saints. But you have to wonder, as the season drags on and the deal has not been done, whether rival clubs have come-a-calling. Will Montagna be a casualty of St Kilda's salary cap, which as it stands, is full to over-flowing?
Montagna has at least two more good seasons in him and still has enough midfield weapons to help a side about to enter the premiership window. At 28, Montagna won't likely relocate from Victoria, so North Melbourne shapes as the type of emerging side where he could add immediate value.
Players like Montagna appear to be the exception rather than the rule when it comes to free agency. Talk to list managers and player managers throughout football and the belief is growing that free agency isn't there to move stars between clubs but rather, as one official put it, "let blokes keep on playing footy".
It is players such as Jordan Russell (Carlton), David Hille (Essendon), Tom Murphy (Hawthorn), Chris Knights (Adelaide) and Shannon Byrnes (Geelong), to name just a few, who might be the beneficiaries. They're on the fringe of senior selection at their existing clubs, certainly not in the best 22, but still young enough to be tempted by longer-term and better-paying deals than they might get if they remain put.
Similarly, it is clubs like Port Adelaide, who might be helped by free agency. The Power are slowly infusing young talent into their club, but have also been working the player agents hard, selling Port to potential free agents as a destination club whose fortunes are about to change for the better - particularly after the move to the Adelaide Oval in 2014.
But all the talk about free agency is best estimate stuff. It begins in earnest - and for good - on October 1. One month later, we will have a better idea as to whether the football landscape has irrevocably changed.
You can follow AFL Media senior writer Ashley Browne on Twitter @afl_hashbrowne
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL
