LANCE Franklin should consider the case of Brendon Goddard and his football legacy when weighing up a move through free agency, according to Hawthorn president Andrew Newbold.

As Franklin considers an offer from Greater Western Sydney, Newbold questioned how the premiership forward would be remembered at Hawthorn if he were to leave after nine years' service.  

He urged the 26-year-old to consider free agency pioneer Brendon Goddard, asking how the former St Kilda star's legacy had been affected by a move to Essendon at the end of 2012. 

"If you look at someone like Brendon Goddard, is he a St Kilda player or is he an Essendon player when he finishes his career?" Newbold said on Saturday.

"That's something he'll have to ask himself. But I think you can get a lot of benefit from being a one-club player.

"I like to see players play their career at one club. I think people can underestimate what that actually provides when you play at one club for that long.

"You can see people like Peter Hudson who played pretty much at one club and the benefit they get from sticking with one club."

Franklin, who wasn't selected for Saturday's clash against the Western Bulldogs in Launceston because of a knee problem, is the subject of a massive offer from GWS reportedly worth $10 million over six years.

Newbold described himself as a football traditionalist and said he would be disappointed if Franklin quit the club.

He said the Hawks had tabled a respectful offer to Franklin's management.

"The ball's in his court," Newbold said.

"He wants to put it off until the end of the year. I've said if it was proving to be a distraction, we might need to be more proactive.

"But the fact is we are 13-2 and the group is really well connected and going well."

Newbold said Franklin's knee complaint, which has kept him out of action since round 15, was not a major one.

"My understanding is that he's had that for a while and it's manageable," Newbold said.

Newbold said the beauty of being on top of the ladder after 16 rounds was the Hawks could take a cautious approach to managing players ahead of the finals series.

Three-time All Australian Franklin has booted 558 career goals including 38 in 14 matches in 2013.