Three Magpies will begin the 2014 season among the AFL’s list of restricted and unrestricted free agents.

Swingman Ben Reid is the club’s only restricted free agent, while Tyson Goldsack and Nick Maxwell are unrestricted free agents.

Restricted and unrestricted free agents may consider offers from rival clubs during the post-season period.

An offer to a player only includes capped salary and capped ASA (Additional Service Agreements) amounts.

Under the AFL Player Rules, an unrestricted free agent may automatically move to the club of his choice.

An offer to a restricted free agent may be matched by his club, which has right of first refusal over his services. If the restricted free agent player does not wish to remain with his original club, he must enter the draft or seek a trade.

Compensation in the form of AFL allocated draft picks will apply to clubs with a net loss of free agents, based on the formula determined by the AFL.

Collingwood has been an active player in the free agency market since it was introduced at the end of 2012.

Quinten Lynch (West Coast; unrestricted free agent), Clinton Young (Hawthorn; unrestricted free agent) and Tony Armstrong (Sydney; delisted free agent) have all arrived at the Westpac Centre via free agency.

On the flipside, it was through free agency that Dale Thomas joined Carlton last October.

As compensation for the loss of Thomas, Collingwood received draft selection No. 11, which later ended in the hands of West Coast as a part of a deal that saw the Magpies secure selection No. 6 (Matthew Scharenberg).

Restricted free agents: David Mackay (Adelaide Crows); Bryce Gibbs (Carlton); Ben Reid (Collingwood); Heath Hocking (Essendon); David Mundy (Fremantle); Todd Goldstein, Lachlan Hansen (North Melbourne); Shannon Hurn (West Coast); Shaun Higgins (Western Bulldogs).

Unrestricted free agents: Jason Porplyzia, Ben Rutten (Adelaide Crows); Jonathan Brown, Ash McGrath (Brisbane Lions); Michael Jamison, Kade Simpson, Jarrad Waite (Carlton); Nick Maxwell, Tyson Goldsack (Collingwood); Dustin Fletcher, Leroy Jetta, Jason Winderlich (Essendon); Garrick Ibbotson, Luke McPharlin, Matthew Pavlich (Fremantle); Corey Enright, James Kelly (Geelong Cats); Brad Sewell (Hawthorn); James Frawley, Lynden Dunn (Melbourne); Leigh Adams, Michael Firrito, Brent Harvey (North Melbourne); Domenic Cassisi, Kane Cornes, Tom Logan, Paul Stewart (Port Adelaide); Shane Edwards, Jake King, Chris Newman (Richmond); Sam Fisher, Jarryn Geary, James Gwilt, Lenny Hayes, Clint Jones (St Kilda); Adam Goodes, Nick Malceski, Ryan O’Keefe, Lewis Roberts-Thomson (Sydney Swans); Sam Butler, Dean Cox, Darren Glass, Matt Rosa (West Coast); Matthew Boyd, Daniel Giansiracusa, Dale Morris, Robert Murphy, Tom Williams (Western Bulldogs).

Free Agency explained
A player has served seven seasons or less of AFL football at one club, and is now out of contract.
The player is not eligible for free agency if his club wishes to retain him. He may only move clubs via a trade or the Draft. If he delists himself, he is subject to the Draft, and may be selected by any club.

A player has served seven seasons or less of AFL football at one club, and has been delisted by his club.

The player is a Free Agent and is eligible to field offers from all rival AFL clubs. The player must decide on the best offer of his choice from one rival club. The player can move automatically to the new club of his choice. His original club, which chose to delist him, does not receive any compensation pick for the loss of the player.

A player has served eight or more seasons of AFL football at one club, is one of the top 25 per cent highest-paid players at his club, and is now out of contract for the first time since March 1 in his eighth season. (Restricted Free Agent)
The player is eligible to field offers from all rival AFL clubs. If he wishes to change clubs, the player must decide on the best offer of his choice from one rival club. His club has the right to match the presented offer.

If the club matches the offer, he may choose to remain with his original club, seek a trade or enter the Draft. If the club does not or can not match the offer, the player can move to the new club of his choice.

His original club will receive a compensation pick for the loss of the player, on an AFL-determined formula to apply where clubs lose more free agents than they gain in any single transfer period.

A player has served eight or more seasons of AFL football at one club, is NOT one of the top 25 per cent highest-paid players at his club, and is now out of contract for the first time since reaching eight seasons of service. (Unrestricted Free Agent)
The player is eligible to field offers from all rival AFL clubs.

If he wishes to change clubs, the player must decide on the best offer of his choice from one rival club.

His club does not have the right to match the presented offer, and the player can move AUTOMATICALLY to the new club of his choice.

His original club will receive a compensation pick for the loss of the player, on an AFL-determined formula to apply where clubs lose more free agents than they gain in any single transfer period.

A player has served ten or more seasons of AFL football at one club, has already come out of contract once in the period after March 1 in his eighth season, and is now out of contract. (Unrestricted Free Agent)
The player is eligible to field offers from all rival clubs.

If he wishes to change clubs, the player must decide on the best offer of his choice from one rival club.

His club does NOT have the right to match the presented offer, and the player can move automatically to the new club of his choice.

His original club will receive a compensation pick for the loss of the player, on an AFL-determined formula to apply where clubs lose more free agents than they gain in any single transfer period.