Unrestricted agent free agent Jack Silvagni nominates St Kilda as his club of choice

Carlton favourite son Jack Silvagni will play for St Kilda next year.

7NEWS chief AFL reporter Mitch Cleary has revealed that the unrestricted free agent “has chosen St Kilda as his new home”.

Collingwood and the Western Bulldogs were also circling but Jack will now join his father, Stephen, at the Saints, who is also St Kilda’s list manager.

It has been reported that Silvagni’s five-year contract from St Kilda is worth somewhere around $850,000 a season.

And Cleary said Silvagni choosing St Kilda over the Pies and Dogs was “the best possible result for Carlton” as they now wait for a compensation pick from the AFL.

“A five-year deal at $4 million-plus would put Blues in the frame for an end-of-first-round compo (pick),” Cleary said.

“Silvagni turning 28 this year (compared to typical 26-year-old free agent) might be only thing holding back first round compo.”

Jack Silvagni is a third generation Carlton star.

His name is synonymous with the Blues which started with his grandfather, Sergio Silvagni, way back in the late 1950s

Stephen and Sergio both became much-loved legends at the club.

Stephen is a dual premiership player, a five-time All-Australian, an Australian Football Hall of Famer, and full-back in the AFL team of the century.

His nickname is SOS (son of Serge), with his father, Serge, also a dual premiership player at Carlton and a Blues Hall of Famer.

Last week, Jack told Carlton of his intentions to exercise his free agency rights.

“Whilst the decision was not easy to leave the football club, I felt the time was right to explore another opportunity,” Silvagni said in a statement.

“I want to say a huge thank you to everyone at the club for their support during my time there, I sincerely appreciate the opportunity this club has given me and my family.”

Jack joined the club in 2015 as a father-son draft selection.

He debuted in 2016 and has gone on to play 128 games, playing as forward, in defence, and also a pinch-hitter in the ruck.

He has had a rough time with injury, however, managing just 13 games this season after having his entire 2024 year wiped out with an ACL injury.

St Kilda have openly declared their intentions to become more aggressive as a football club in all off-field matters.

They have also prised big man Tom De Koning out of Carlton, luring the high-flying star to their Moorabbin base with an eight-year, multimillion-dollar mega-deal.

St Kilda football manager David Misson said they were thrilled Jack had nominated St Kilda “as the club where he wishes to continue his career”.

“As Jack is an unrestricted free agent, he will be entitled to accept our offer once formally submitted during the free agency window in October. We need to respect this process.,” he said.

“With the official player movement period still several weeks away, we will not be commenting further at this time.”

AFL free agency period officially blasts off on Friday, October 3, and will close on Friday, October 10.