The Newcastle Knights have been rocked yet again on the contract front, with the revelation Englishman Kai Pearce-Paul will test his value in free agency from November 1.
The former Wigan Warrior made his English Super League debut at just 19 years of age, and stormed his way into the national team ahead of the 2021 Rugby League World Cup.
Now just 23 years of age, Pearce-Paul has completed his first season in the NRL after making the switch from the Super League ahead of the 2024 season.
One of the Knights' big recruits for the season, he made 22 appearances for the club, but didn't quite justify the hype, only crossing for a single try and adding 3 line breaks during the campaign, although he did put together 15 offloads.
Hampered at various points by injury clouds, the Knights will be sweating on getting more out of the second-rower in 2025, but that could be all the story writes for the English forward in Newcastle, with News Corp reporting he will explore his options and test his value on the open market from November 1.
Off-contract at the end of 2025, Pearce-Paul is among the long list of players who can speak with rival clubs from that date, and it's believed he could attract more than $600,000 in a new deal given the potential future upside as he continues to adjust to the rigours of NRL standard rugby league.
He becomes the second Knights' forward to look at the open market this year, with prop Leo Thompson also set to consider his options.
The Knights are understandably desperate to retain both players, but salary upgrades will make life hard for Adam O'Brien and his recruitment and retention staff.
The Hunter-based club have a well-known salary cap headache, and while some of that has eased with the move of Daniel Saifiti to the Dolphins for 2025, it's certainly not forgotten.
The Knights have reportedly told Jackson Hastings, Jayden Brailey and Adam Elliott, potentially among others, that they are free to explore their options elsewhere as director of football Peter Parr attempts to sort out the mess.
