Jarryd Hayne may have given up on signing with Parramatta, but the club hasn’t given up signing him just yet.
The Eels are in a salary cap bind that has left them with just $200,000 to offer Hayne. However, that pain will be short lived, with the club in the process of overhauling its roster management to ensure it doesn’t squander the $4 million war chest it has to spend on players from 2020.
Uncertain future: Parramatta hasn't given up hope of signing Jarryd Hayne.CREDIT:AAP
The Eels currently have no room to pay Hayne his market value because most of their cap is invested in big names Mitchell Moses, Corey Norman, Michael Jennings, Bevan French, Brad Takairangi and Clint Gutherson. All of those players are off contract and - with the exception of captain Gutherson - are unlikely to be offered new deals.
The blue and golds have only a dozen players contracted for 2020, giving them the cash and flexibility required to overhaul a squad that finished the 2018 season with the wooden spoon.
However, that is of little solace to Hayne, who has always indicated his desire to stay put but can’t do so until at least one contracted player moves on.
The two-time Dally M medallist has publicly stated he is resigned to not playing for Parramatta again, although Eels CEO Bernie Gurr hasn’t given up hope of squeezing him into the 2019 squad.
"We would revisit that, yes," Gurr told Fairfax Media. "It’s pretty common knowledge we are at the same place we’ve been for a couple of weeks.
"We need to free up some salary cap space to be anywhere near what Jarryd would want. That’s not happening at the moment. Nothing has really changed over the last month."
Replies
Let's sign hayne he use to be a good player. I like watching his highlights on YouTube. He will win us a premiership . He is my favourite player . Go away hayne haters if you support parra you have to be a hayne supporter - Jarryd hayne is the eelzzzz
FMD - Takairangi on a huge deal. Who wrote that contract? Sack them immediately (if not gone already)
The guy was at best a good FG'er. Why the K1w1s picked him remains a mystery to me.
FMD#2 - French on a huge deal. The person who wrote that deal needs shooting.
Sure he deserved an upgrade based on what he did 2 years ago but - a huge deal? No fukkin way!