[3][4] * Watson was retroactively deemed ineligible to win the Brownlow due to his involvement in the Essendon supplements saga.

Notable players who were ineligible entering the count this season included, among others: former Brownlow Medallists Jimmy Bartel, Simon Black, Chris Judd and Adam Goodes, as well as Fremantle captain Matthew Pavlich.

[7] Following the guilty verdict handed down by the CAS in January, it was announced the AFL Commission would meet in February to determine whether Watson would retain his Brownlow Medal;[8] however, this decision was delayed until the outcome of the Federal Supreme Court appeal.

[9] The final decision regarding Jobe Watson's Brownlow medal win was decided by the AFL Commission in late November 2016, with Watson retrospectively ruled ineligible for the award, and the medal then awarded to the next highest vote-getters, Cotchin and Mitchell, under the normal rules regarding ineligible players;[10] Watson had pre-empted the decision by announcing on 11 November 2016 that he would hand back the medal.

[12] Watson's physical medal was handed back to the AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan in early 2017, with no plans in place to re-present or display it as of February 2017.