Essendon has entered talks with Hawthorn that could see the Bombers secure two first round draft picks in exchange for Jake Carlisle.
The 23 year old had indicated a preference to play for St Kilda in 2016.
But so far the Saints have been unable to come up with an adequate deal, opening the door for the Hawks.
“We have a responsibility to do the best thing for our football club and that’s first and foremost,” Essendon List and Recruiting Manager Adrian Dodoro told AFL Trade Radio.
“If that means getting two first round draft picks in the door for a player that doesn’t want to be at our club then that’s the best thing for our football club.
“It’s not about Hawthorn – obviously they’d be celebrating at their end – but it’s about setting our football club up in the long term.
“We’ve got a great Coach on board, we signed Matty Leuenberger today as a free agent and if we can get these picks in the door it would really be a fillip for our fans and that’s what it’s all about.”
Under the proposed three-way deal involving Hawthorn and also North Melbourne, Essendon would secure picks 15 and 18 and lose Carlisle and selection 41.
If the deal goes through, the Bombers would enter November’s Draft in its strongest position for a long time with selections 4, 15, 18, 23 and 25.
“That’s a hand we’re pretty keen to get, it’s something that we want,” Dodoro said.
“You get a cluster of players, you can set your club up and it’s something that we haven’t had for a number of years.
“Last year we got (Jayden) Laverde and (Kyle) Langford at roughly these picks.
“We think we’ll get two very, very good players with those picks.”
Dodoro said Hawthorn spoke with Carlisle today.
"I understand that they’ve had some fairly good discussions. There is a little bit of work to go I imagine.
"Jake probably had his heart set on going to St Kilda and that may be where he wishes still to go.
“But I’m sure he’d prefer to go to Hawthorn than to go in the pre-season draft.
“We’ve been really open and transparent with the Saints and told them that (pick) five would get it done.
“I’m not going to say anything negative towards the Saints - they’ve got their strategy and I respect that.
“But we’ve had to do the best for our Football Club and this looks like a really good deal for us.”
