Zak Butters picks Bulldogs after Port lets him walk

Zak Butters is a Western Bulldog.

The 25-year-old midfielder joined the club as a restricted free agent after Port Adelaide decided not to match the Bulldogs' offer, with the move described as a nine-year deal worth $2 million a season ABC. He was unveiled at Whitten Oval.

Restricted free agency gave Port the right to keep him by matching the bid. The Power let him walk. That decision triggered top-level compensation for Port, according to AFL.com.au.

Butters was courted by the Bulldogs, Geelong, Collingwood and Richmond. He denied he or his management ever told Geelong the Cats were his first preference.

He said he did not fully make up his mind until after Port's season ended. He went back to his family property at Darley, west of Melbourne, to decide.

The call had been building for a year. Butters said he knew he was leaving with a season still to run on his Port contract, following open conversations with the club at the end of the previous season.

He thought about going public while he played out his final year. He discussed it with his manager, Peter Lenton. In the end he stayed quiet.

Butters said the AFL landscape "isn't probably quite ready" for players to announce moves mid-season. He added that allowing such early calls to be made public in the future would not be a bad thing.

It closes an eight-season run at Alberton. Butters arrived as a Victorian kid and leaves as a three-time All Australian midfielder. He was out of contract at the end of 2026, and speculation about a return home had followed him for months.

The paperwork was lodged during a busy trade period. The Bulldogs' bid for Butters sat alongside an AFL-approved five-club mega deal involving Port Adelaide, Melbourne, the Bulldogs, Hawthorn and Carlton, reported on 8 October AFL.com.au.

For fans, this means clarity. The Bulldogs get a proven midfielder without giving up picks in a trade. Port banks elite compensation and moves on.