Supply and demand. I'm sure they'd like to release half a dozen depth signings before him but if not other club wants them........ Dogs can still get rid of them but have to pay 100% of their salary which is counted under the cap.
Bulldogs issue isn't salary cap as they only have three players on 800 plus being Burton, Crichton and Kikau. Bulldogs issue is that Gus Gould has signed too many players and they don't have enough numbers in their Top 30 and Development List to fit them all in so he's had to shuffle a few on. Instead of adding club or mutual options into contracts like a lot of clubs and some foolishly add player options notably Eels & Tigers Gus prefers to sign them for the extra year, take a small financial hit and move them on.
Development List has a salary cap of 640k and min payment is 80k this doesn't include 3k per NRL game they play and the 3k per game train & trial players play this is why clubs only have 4-6 on the Development List. Bulldogs had 8 not so long ago until they let Seve and Papalii go. They had more than 30 in the Top 30 hence why Semrani and Kautoga were let go to Eels and with Oloapu still there they're right on 30 and they're about to sign Paluhu from Titans who they're desperate for right now. They're the last club that has a cap issue but they have a numbers issue that needs to be tidied up just how Gus operates so successfully.
Dolphins can hold out for Oloapu as there isn't a big supply for him right now and eventually Gus will have to pay extra to get rid of him like he did with Fatala-Mariner last year the Dragons were able to hold out until late January.
Last year Dolphins used 3 players outside their Top 30 - Fuller 11 games, Donoghue 10 games and Hubner 4 games that's 75k in player payments that comes out of the 640k in one of those games for Hubner was as 18th man. We don't and will never know if Donoghue or Fuller quietly got moved into the Top 30 earlier than expected with Wallace leaving although that happened in July so possibly not and we will never know. This is why clubs don't have 8 players on development for 80k each as something like 80-90k needs to be set aside for match payments and there's usually a development player on a slightly higher than 80k deal which Donoghue would have been for sure after being Top 30 in 2023 from early March to 31 October.
From the Top 30 last year - Gilbert, Graham and Te Whare didn't play a single game and Teague as 18th man got onto the field for one game.