Should Roos present Butters godfather offer amid links to two Victorian rivals?

Could Port Adelaide’s Zak Butters eventually pursue a move back home to Victoria?

The 23-year-old star still has two years remaining on his current deal, becoming a restricted free agent at the end of the 2026 season.

With Butters hailing from Darley via the Western Jets, a listener texted SEN SA’s The Run Home to ask hosts Kym Dillon and Michelangelo Rucci if North Melbourne should pursue the 2023 AFLCA Champion Player.

Rucci expects North to ask the question given Butters’ age and talent as well as the salary cap space they’ll have built up.

Dillon is also expecting the Roos to be a suitor for the Victorian should he want to come home but linked two other rivals – Geelong and the Western Bulldogs – as the clubs he thinks are monitoring the All-Australian’s status most closely.

Dillon: “Is there any chance North Melbourne get back at Port Adelaide for the Horne-Francis trade and have Zak Butters on the hook? That’s a text from a listener.”

Rucci*: “Yeah, they'll ask the question because that's what North should do.

“You know North throw big money around, don't you?”

Dillon: “They've been doing the godfather offer and haven't landed a fish.”

Rucci*: “What would North do? You put an enormous offer to him, you say, ‘It’s a come home opportunity’, and you’ve got Alastair Clarkson as coach, and he has appeal.

“I'd be doing the sales pitch if I was the list manager at North.”

Dillon: “We're hearing it's Geelong and the Western Bulldogs (who are linked to him).

“You’ve got ‘Libba’ (Tom Liberatore) who is nearly done, they’ll be trying to offload Jack Macrae.”

Dillon: “If you were Zak Butters’ manager and there was the slightest hint that he's prepared to do a deal to go home, how many calls do you think he’d take? (All 18).”

Dillon: “I know. He has two more years left, so let’s hope it doesn’t happen.”

Butters is averaging 28.1 disposals, 4.9 clearances and 4.2 tackles a game across 2024 so far.