They will also field a reserves team in the Victorian Football League.
Three veteran Essendon players decided to retire at the end of the 2017 season: two-time All-Australian Jobe Watson,[1] former Geelong three-time premiership player James Kelly[2] and 255-game player Brent Stanton.
[3] After the season Essendon also announced that they had delisted Heath Hocking.
The first trade to be completed was that of Greater Western Sydney player Devon Smith, who Essendon acquired with their first round pick for the 2017 draft.
[5] Later they also secured Adam Saad from Gold Coast with their 2018 second round pick,[6] before getting forward Jake Stringer from the Western Bulldogs in exchange for two second-round draft picks on the last day of the trade period.