Granted a release from the final two seasons of his contract with the St George Illawarra Dragons, Zac Lomax is set to be tabled an offer from the Parramatta Eels later this week.
In contention for a NSW Blues jersey this year following a great start to the season, Lomax was given permission to negotiate with rival clubs for the 2025 season.
Having already met with Brad Arthur and the Parramatta Eels, the club has emerged as the frontrunners for his signature and are preparing to offer him a three-year contract.
However, it is understood that the deal will see Lomax take a significant pay cut, which will see his yearly salary decrease from $850,000 to around $650,000-$700,000 per season.
โZac Lomax will be tabled an offer from Parramatta this week,โ senior sports reporter Neil Breen said on 2GB.
โThe problem for Lomax is, it will be a three-year offer, and each year will be about $150,000 to $200,000 short of what he was going to get paid at the Dragons.
โThat's the pay cut he is taking. He was on $800,000 this year, $850,000 next year, $875,000 the year after. He's going to be $150,000-odd short of that.โ
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The blue and gold outfit has the funds available in their salary cap to sign him, and he would easily slot into the centres alongsideย Will Penisini.
This would create a formidable backline for Clinton Gutherson, Maika Sivo, Penisini, Lomax, Sean Russell, Dylan Brown, and Mitchell Moses once the latter returnsย from injury.
However, the decrease in salary for Lomax is due to Moses being on a salary of approximately $1 million per season and Clinton Gutherson and Junior Paulo earning upwards of $900,000 per year on their current contracts.
Since his debut against theย South Sydney Rabbitohs, he has gone on to play 98 NRL matches and scored 683 points in the process (39 tries, 263 goals and one field goal)
โI met with Zac at my home,โ Eels coach Brad Arthur told the Herald recently.
โWe've got genuine interest and we want to bolster our squad. We always said we were short an outside back. He's off contract for '25.โ
