AS MUCH as player retention looms as the main focus for Essendon at the end of this season, it should consider letting All Australian key defender Cale Hooker go.
Putting aside the question of whether the 12 Bombers suspended for 2016 on anti-doping charges– of which Hooker is one – will seek to void their contracts and become delisted free agents, let's focus on what we know for sure.
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Five of the banned Bombers are already set to become free agents at the end of this season.
With all due respect to David Myers, Brent Stanton, Heath Hocking and Tayte Pears, Hooker is far and away the biggest fish among them. The Western Australian is, in fact, the biggest fish still swimming in this year's entire free agency pool.
It's understood Hooker has made no decision on his future and is in no hurry to do so. Given it's been little more than a month since his 2016 was turned upside down by the Court of Arbitration for Sport's guilty verdict, that's no surprise.
If Hooker ultimately decides to accept a rival club's offer when the free agency period opens in October, Essendon should have the right to match it given it is expected the 2014 All Australian's existing contract will make him a restricted free agent.
But before exercising that right, the Bombers should ask themselves whether they're better off letting their reigning best and fairest winner go.
In saying this, we're not doubting Hooker's talent for a second.
The 197cm West Australian is one of the competition's very best key defenders and is coming off the best two seasons of his career.
But Hooker will be 28 by the time he returns for the 2017 season. And with Essendon facing several rebuilding years under new coach John Worsfold, he might be in decline by the time the Bombers are ready to challenge again.
So the key defender could be more valuable to Essendon at another club next year for the simple reason he's likely to earn it a first-round compensation pick if he leaves via free agency.
Already, Fremantle has been heavily linked to Hooker. And if he doesn't want to return to his home state – he baulked at moving to West Coast in a proposed three-way trade at the end of 2012 – other clubs will come knocking with big offers.
Cale Hooker kicked the game-winning goal against the Hawks last season. Picture: AFL Media
Those offers would likely be worth at least $700,000 a season and some could be as a high as $800,000.
The AFL's benchmark for a first-round compensation pick remains fluid from year to year, but deals of this size should guarantee Essendon one.
Given their raft of missing stars includes Hooker, Jobe Watson, Dyson Heppell and Michael Hurley, the Bombers are widely tipped to claim this year's wooden spoon.
If they do, and they then let Hooker leave via free agency, they would likely take picks No.1 and 2 into the 2016 NAB AFL Draft – the first pick their 'reward' for finishing last, the second their compensation for losing Hooker.
The Bombers' draft hand would only be slightly weakened if they finished 17th or 16th.
For a club that needs to rebuild under Worsfold over the next few seasons, these early picks would add to the stockpile of elite young talent the Bombers started assembling when they took Darcy Parish and Aaron Francis at picks No.5 and 6 in last year's draft.
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When considering its position, Essendon should look at what Melbourne was able to salvage from James Frawley's free agency exit at the end of 2014.
The Demons, who finished 17th that season, received the No.3 pick as compensation when Frawley accepted an offer from Hawthorn, a selection they used to grab Angus Brayshaw.
After missing just one game in his debut season last year and finishing fifth in the NAB AFL Rising Star award, Brayshaw looks capable of becoming a key part of Melbourne's on-ball division for the next decade.
Of course, Frawley won a premiership in his first season at Hawthorn, so at this early stage his move appears a win for both parties.
Hooker leaving at the end of this season could be a win-win too.
It's an option Essendon should, at the very least, seriously consider.
REMAINING 2016 FREE AGENTS
Adelaide
Scott Thompson
Nathan van Berlo
Brisbane Lions
Daniel Merrett
Daniel Rich
Carlton
Kade Simpson
Dennis Armfield
Collingwood
Nathan Brown
Brent Macaffer
Steele Sidebottom
Dane Swan
Alan Toovey
Jarryd Blair
Essendon
Courtenay Dempsey
Heath Hocking
Cale Hooker
Brent Stanton
Tayte Pears
Fremantle
Zac Clarke
Chris Mayne
Clancee Pearce
Matthew Pavlich
Aaron Sandilands
Geelong
Jimmy Bartel
Corey Enright
Tom Lonergan
Hawthorn
Luke Hodge
Sam Mitchell
Brendan Whitecross
Melbourne
Jack Grimes
Neville Jetta
Jake Spencer
Jack Watts
North Melbourne
Michael Firrito
Brent Harvey
Drew Petrie
Lindsay Thomas
Daniel Wells
Port Adelaide
Paul Stewart
Richmond
Tyrone Vickery
St Kilda
Sean Dempster
Sam Fisher
Nick Riewoldt
Sydney Swans
Kieren Jack
Ted Richards
West Coast
Mitch Brown
Sam Butler
Chris Masten
Patrick McGinnity
Matt Priddis
Will Schofield
Western Bulldogs
Matthew Boyd
Will Minson
Dale Morris
Robert Murphy
