AFL CLUBS would have the flexibility to spend more on their playing lists under a proposal put forward by the AFL Players Association.

The Association has called for a single cap to be imposed on football department spending, although clubs would be able to determine what percentage of that spend would be used on the playing list.

It means a club with a cap of $20 million could, for argument's sake, spend $12 million on players if it was considered worthwhile, rather than be limited by the current salary cap of approximately $10 million.

The Association says players are the most valuable asset in the football department, so clubs should be able to budget accordingly around them.

Clubs vary the percentage of football department budget spent on players, with some clubs above 60 per cent while other clubs have slipped below 50 per cent.

AFLPA CEO Matt Finnis told Fairfax Media that the massive growth in football department spending in recent years had not been directed to the players due to the cap.

"What we've seen over the several years is massive growth in other football expenditure, at double the level of any increase in player payments," Finnis said.

"It's legitimate in that context that the players would say 'why ought there not be a single cap limiting all football spending and let the market decide where the true value in performance lies?'"

Finnis said the system could be phased in gradually to ensure minimal disruption to football departments.

Many clubs consider that a cap on football department expenditure is inevitable with increasing likelihood that a tax would be imposed on clubs who spend beyond that cap.

Any cap would need a significant audit function attached to it, run by the AFL to ensure compliance.