The Penrith Panthers have commenced contract negotiations with four of their enormous off-contract list.
While the Panthers recently locked in future club captain Mitch Kenny long-term, the club still have, as it stands, 11 players off-contract at the end of the 2027 campaign from their current Top 30.
All of those players, unless signed before, will be able to head to the open market from November 1 and begin negotiations with rival clubs, including the cashed up PNG Chiefs, and 2027s expansion outfit the Perth Bears who will also likely have plenty in the coffers.
At the time of publication, the list of Penrith players off-contract at the end of 2027 is Paul Alamoti, Nathan Cleary, Sione Fonua, Moses Leota, Liam Martin, Isaiah Papali'i, Luron Patea, Billy Scott, Blaize Talagi, Brian To'o and Isaah Yeo.
That group are joined by Tom Ale, Kalani Going and Freddy Lussick who are all yet to sign contracts for 2027.
But in some good news for the club from the foot of the mountains, journalist Christian Nicolussi has revealed four - Yeo, Martin, Alamoti and Papali'i - have begun talks over a contract extension.
“From what I've been told. They've already started preliminary talks with Isaah Yeo, Liam Martin, Paul Alamoti and Isaiah Papali'i,” Nicolussi said on Fantastic TV.
Of the quartet, it's believed Yeo was planning on going to November 1, while Martin last week told the Western Weekender that he was keen to re-sign with the Panthers.
Penrith are likely going to lose at least one or two players at the end of next year given the enormous salary cap crunch on its way to the foot of the mountains.
Brian To'o is widely expected to be one of them, while Moses Leota has already gone to the market to find out his worth after being given permission to do so early by the Panthers, but maybe the biggest question mark remains around Nathan Cleary, who is all but certain to arrive on November 1 without a deal and test his worth elsewhere.
Cleary, the game's best halfback, has so far only ruled out going to the New Zealand Warriors and standing in the way of his brother Jett, or making the move to rugby union.
It would appear all other options are, for now at least, on the table, and Nicloussi said Cleary is yet to sit down with the club, fueling speculation he could find a new home.
"Nathan has yet to sit down with Penrith, but from what I've been told, he's meeting with his management this week,” Nicolussi continued.
“He's the last one to come to the party, but he's the first one that Penrith want to knock out of the way because it's going to have the domino effect with the rest of the roster.
“But slowly but surely things are moving and the jigsaw pieces are hopefully falling into place for Penrith behind the scenes.”
The Panthers could free up some salary cap for future seasons by potentially moving Izack Tago on at the end of this year, with the St George Illawarra Dragons believed to be interested in his services.
That, in the grand scheme of things though, would make little difference in Penrith's ongoing negotiations with so many stars.
