Whether he signed a contract is irrelevant. Sure it means GWS have the final say, but there is no written rule that you give contract extensions to required players any more than you give them to players that may be surplus to your needs but would have good trade value at some stage. You have a lot of tall forwards, you train them all up, get them contracted, then you trade some of them away for other players you need.
Especially with free agency you pretty much want everyone on a contract so that you, the team, have the power at the trade table.
