Swans head of football Tom Harley told SEN radio on Wednesday the top 20 or 30 draft picks looked likely to be good this year.

Star midfielder Tom Mitchell is headed to Hawthorn, as the Swans struggle to remain under their salary cap with million-dollar men Kurt Tippet and Lance Franklin on their books.

The in-principle deal will see the grand final losers get a first-round draft pick - 14 overall - and a swap of later picks.

Harley said the club had offered Mitchell a long-term deal earlier in the year, but it was not for as much as the player wanted, so they put his status on hold for the rest of the season.

"We are at the very least going into draft with two first round picks for the first time since 2009," Harley said.

Harley said Sydney was not in the market for players already in the AFL system, they wanted draft picks.

"If there's a deal to be done for us to further improve our position in the draft we'll certainly look to do that," he said.

Re-signing talented 20-year-old Isaac Heeney is a priority for Sydney - he is only contracted with the Swans until the end of 2017.

However, Harley said Tippett was not on the trade table.