Mitchell Pearce might have a year to run on his contract with the Newcastle Knights, but speculation is abound that he could be on the way to Belmore.
Trent Barrett still has cash to burn at the currently last-placed Bulldogs as the club look to turn around a horror long-term run of results on the back of their salary cap mess.
With it beginning to sort itself out, Barrett has been on an aggressive recruiting drive, most recently adding Tevita Pangai Junior to the list, which already included Josh Addo-Carr, Matt Dufty, Brent Naden and Penrith young gun Matt Burton.
Reports from Fox Sports suggest that the Bulldogs have been made aware that Pearce is free to negotiate from November 1.
It's understood the Knights are potentially looking at moving Pearce on sooner though, with Jack Clifford at the club and talk Kalyn Ponga will move into the halves as he signs a new long-term deal to stay in the Hunter.
While Canterbury are thought to have Jake Averillo as their first-choice halves partner for the arriving Burton next year, while Kyle Flanagan is also still at the club alongside Lachlan Lewis, Pearce would add plenty of experience to the side.
There has, however, been talk that both Lewis and Flanagan will be on the way out of the club in the past few days.
Pearce has battled injury this season, but has guided the Knights to victory in four of the six games he has played.
With just seven wins for the season, it means they have lost eight out of 11 where Pearce hasn't been in the side.
The 32-year-old may be approaching the back-end of his career, but with so much youth in the side, a player of Pearce's experience - with over 300 games under his belt since a 2007 debut, to go with 19 Origin appearances - could be an excellent addition for Canterbury.
