Newcastle Knights forward Kai Pearce-Paul has been linked with a move to the Wests Tigers for 2026, and potentially before.
The English forward joined the NRL before the start of the 2024 season and hasn't yet hit the standards he had showcased on the other side of the world to start his career, but has shown enough to suggest he will have a strong career in Australia.
Despite that, it has been widely reported that he will not re-sign with the Knights beyond the end of this year.
That has now shifted to the fact he could even be released early, with the Wests Tigers emerging as the front-runner for his services, whether this year or next.
The Knights have been in a long-running battle with their salary cap, and while that pressure was eased at the start of 2025 with the release of Daniel Saifiti, and will be further at the end of this season with the exit of a number of players including Jackson Hastings, the club are also looking to rebuild from the ground up on the back of the signing of Dylan Brown, who will arrive from the Parramatta Eels at the end of 2025.
Salary cap is only one part of the equation when it comes to a potential early release, with the Knights also weighing up signing Dominic Young.
He is contracted to the Roosters until the end of 2027, but was linked to an immediate move back to the Hunter after he was dropped from first-grade in recent weeks.
Roosters boss Trent Robinson slammed the Knights for not following through on their initial line of questioning, with the Hunter-based outfit reportedly not wanting to pay any of Young's salary this year.
An early exit for Pearce-Paul would allow that to happen though, with the Tigers understood to be only one of a handful of clubs interested in capturing the Englishman's services.
