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AFL free agents come in two varieties: restricted and unrestricted.
Restricted free agents are out of contract, in the top 25 per cent highest paid at their club, and have either been at their club for eight or more but less than ten years, or have been in the AFL for ten or more years but have not previously had restricted free agent status.
They can accept an offer from a rival club, but their current club has the choice to match the offer made to them and they must then seek a trade if they still wish to move clubs. So far, no club has ever chosen to match an offer for a restricted free agent. That said, in 2015, Adelaide forced Geelong to make a trade for Patrick Dangerfield after publicly claiming they would match any offer.
Unrestricted free agents are out of contract, and either have been at their current club for ten years or more and previously been a restricted free agent, or been at their current club for eight years or more and are not inside the top 25 per cent highest paid at their club.
They can accept an offer from a rival club and if they do then this is processed immediately. Their current club has no right to match the offer or block the move.
As of 2019, all players who have been free agents previously – including those who were delisted free agents – are now considered ‘free agents for life’, and will qualify for unrestricted free agency in any year in which they come out of contract.
Players on this list who have announced their retirement or have been delisted will be removed.
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2020 AFL Free Agents
2020 Unrestricted Free Agents
Players with an asterisk (*) are rookies. If a player who has been on the rookie list for two years is offered another rookie deal, they can elect to reject the offer and immediately qualify for unrestricted free agency.
