ADELAIDE has denied reports it asked players to take pay cuts so the club can retain young stars Jake Lever and Mitch McGovern.

SEN Inside Football claimed the Crows were close to the salary cap after signing several senior players to new contracts.

In a statement to AFL.com.au, the Crows said the story was 'factually incorrect'.

"The Adelaide Football Club rejects a Melbourne-based media report regarding the current state of its salary cap," the statement read.

"It's factually incorrect and baseless in every regard and the club was at no stage asked to provide comment."

Lever told 5AA on Wednesday he wanted to wait until a new collective bargaining agreement was signed between the AFL and the AFL Players' Association to find out what the salary cap for next year would be.

McGovern will attract attention from rival clubs, especially West Coast and Fremantle, who might try to convince the talented forward to return to Western Australia.