Carlton’s Sam Walsh turned his back on free agency to sign a monster deal with the Blues on Tuesday.

Walsh’s new deal takes him through until 2034, with the eight-year contract the biggest in club history.

According to AFL.com.au’s Cal Twomey, the deal is estimated to be worth more than $10 million across the eight years.

Victorian rivals Geelong, St Kilda, Adelaide and Hawthorn were all reportedly keen on Walsh’s services.

Walsh explained the process of re-signing to Gerard Whateley on Wednesday morning.

“Early in pre-season I wanted to set a good foundation and I always knew I wanted to stay at the footy club so I wanted to be able to put the head down and work hard,” he said on SEN’s Whateley.

“I had conversations with the right people and the it just got down to how long I wanted to commit for and what the details of the contract looked like.

“Once we got into discussions it only took about a month and we landed here the other day and I’m really happy to have it done before the start of the season.”

Walsh will now be a Blue for life and he admits it was always going to be that way.

“In the boardroom there’s a massive painting of all the club legends and you look at pretty much everyone on that board and they were one-club players except for a couple,” he added.

“To have that sense of belonging to a club that has got that much history… even walking down the street yesterday just having people yell out to me saying they were so happy.

“It does feel like a real community. I live around the area and I’ve also been able to meet so many good people and they’re the people you really want to make proud.”

The 25-year-old says he never had any intention of departing Ikon Park.

“Whenever a club contacts you your manager notifies that they’ve approached and what that might look like,” the co-vice captain said.

“I never really entertained it much at all, but you also have to be aware.

“I still had another year to run on my contract and a lot of the talk is built from now, and you see with players like Zak Butters that the landscape is pretty strong for clubs wanting to be able to track talent.

“Hopefully I’ve been able to show Carlton that I’m really happy and excited to build something here.”

Walsh is now the longest-signed player in the competition alongside Melbourne’s Kysaiah Pickett and Fremantle’s Caleb Serong.