The Newcastle Knights intend to make a six-year, $6 million-plus play to try and sign off-contract Parramatta playmaker Dylan Brown provided the gun No. 6 is genuinely interested in a switch of clubs.
In a move guaranteed to have Parramatta powerbrokers nervous, Newcastle’s football department has been discussing if the Knights should have a genuine crack at trying to prise Brown out of the Eels.
With an asking price of up to $1.2 million per season it’s a major call for any club to entertain the value set on Brown by his management.
Currently signed at the Eels until the end of 2031 – albeit with a couple of asterisks in the contract – the Knights deal will need to be from 2026 until the end of 2031.
Newcastle are OK with this.
Any Knights negotiations will be contingent on Brown being serious about making the move from the Eels to head to the Hunter where he could form a lethal playmaking combination with gun fullback Kalyn Ponga.
Brown is currently believed to be on a deal worth around $850,000 this season before being upgraded to over $1 million in the coming seasons at the Eels.
This will mean for the Knights to land Brown’s signature they’re going to have to sharpen the pencil and table a deal worth well in excess of $1 million a year.
The Eels have only got themselves to blame for Brown currently being a free agent with the club agreeing to insert two get out clauses in his eight-year contract until the end of 2031.
Under the terms of the deal Brown has until round 10 this year to inform the Eels if he will be remaining with Parramatta beyond this season.
In a further bizarre contract twist, Brown has another get out clause prior to round 10 in season 2027 meaning he can tear up the final three years of his blue and gold contract from 2029 to 2031.
Whichever way the Eels try to spin it this is simply a bad deal.
Newcastle have been searching for answers in the halves since the departure of Mitchell Pearce and are yet to land on the right formula to take the club to the next level.
This year Jack Cogger, Will Pryce, Phoenix Crossland, Tyson Gamble and Jackson Hastings are all options in the halves as the Knights push to make it into the finals for a third straight season.
Brown, 24, clearly still has enormous upside as a playmaker having already featured in a grand final for the Eels, played 131 NRL games and eight Test matches for New Zealand.
There’s a strong argument Brown owes the Eels given the way the club has looked after him through off field incidents and suspensions.
The Eels have also gone above and beyond in terms of trying to develop Brown as a player and ensure he’s got strong family support around him.
But it’s clear Brown’s management intend to test the waters after agent Chris Orr sent an explosive email shopping the five-eighth to all 16 rival NRL clubs last month.
On the flip side the prospect of Brown uniting with Newcastle fullback Ponga could ignite the Knights attack and may turn the playmaker’s head.
Whichever way it goes what Parramatta can ill-afford is a contract circus around Brown once the new season kicks off.
Eels new coach Jason Ryles faces the ominous assignment of travelling to Melbourne for round 1 on March 8. Talk about a welcome to first grade.
Storm coach Craig Bellamy has never lost a round one fixture in his time at Melbourne dating back to when he started in 2003.
The Eels are busily trying to strike a deal with Brown to remain in blue and gold but the Knights interest will be of major concern.
$6 MILLION MAN: Rival NRL club weighs-up first monster bid for star Eels playmaker
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