Collingwood veteran Daniel Wells made the rare move of forgoing the final year of his big-money contract to help his team out.

After falling just short against West Coast on grand final day, the Magpies faced a significant salary-cap headache keeping Jordan De Goey and Darcy Moore while also luring Dayne Beams back to the club from the Brisbane Lions.

They were successful with all three, with De Goey ($800,000 per year), Moore ($450,000) and Beams ($500,000) signing lucrative contracts.

At the same time, Wells was struggling with injuries but guaranteed $500,000 this season.

Channel Seven Melbourne is reporting the 34-year-old effectively told the club to scrap the guaranteed money and backed himself to get fit and play games, agreeing to far more modest match payments.

Wells, who been battled soft-tissue injuries since arriving from North Melbourne, didn’t even demand an extra year on his contract.

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He has played 14 matches since arriving at Collingwood two seasons ago, including just four in 2018.