Dragons boss Dai Flanagan has confirmed the Rodney Parade side are currently helpless to stop Wales lock Will Rowlands and many more from leaving at the end of the season.
Rowlands is out of contract in the summer and is understood to be on the verge of a move to English club Bath as financial uncertainty reigns in Wales. With the four regions and the Welsh Rugby Union yet to agree a long-term funding deal, the Dragons have been unable to offer the second-row the type of deal he would be happy with.
By the time that deal is in place, it could well be too late to convince Rowlands to stay in Wales, while several others might also have had enough of the uncertainty. The likes of Ross Moriarty, Elliot Dee, Ollie Griffiths, Ashton Hewitt and Sam Davies are all out of contract at the end of the current season.
"Will's in the same bracket as every player in our club who is out of contract and we're in the same bracket as the other regions," said Flanagan.
"I'm surprised you're just saying English clubs, surprised it's not French clubs, Japanese clubs and clubs in Super Rugby because he's one of the best second-rows in the world so I'm pretty sure if there are clubs out there, they'd all be into Will.
"I can only be a transparent and honest person at heart and I'm going to be as honest as I can. At the moment, we don't know our budget. We can't speak to players. If one player is out of contract, another 20 are in the same boat. I'm trying to be as transparent as I can."
The ongoing uncertainty is unsurprisingly having an effect on players. Just last week, Cardiff captain Josh Turnbull said "there is not a lot going right with rugby in Wales at the moment". He added that players just want job security.
Scarlets second-row Josh Helps retired from the game last week at the age of 27 to pursue a career as a financial advisor.
Flanagan was full of praise for how his players are dealing with the tough situation.
"It's challenging because like every other region, we don't know our budget for next year," he added. "We're in a process as the WRU to try to make sure we're in a stable game moving forward, so I'm sure there's reasons behind but that's above me.
"My job is to coach and prepare this team. I speak to individuals as often as possible to reassure them and make sure they know they're important to us. Hopefully we can get some proper conversations going as soon as possible.
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"When I first came in and was speaking to people, it was about what we wanted to be. We wanted to be the place in Welsh rugby, if not British rugby, where we do things right all the time. If you do things right, it's a place people want to be around. That's what we want to build here.
"I've been a player myself and you get to this time of year and you get nervous. You've got families and bills to pay. It's not nice. I have a lot of empathy for these players. Hopefully we get it sorted sooner rather than later.
"The players have been superb. They stick together and they're an extremely tight unit. They're one in, all in and it's very easy for me to manage the group then. They're very protective of each other and rightly so. As a players' union, they have to protect each other."
Other Dragons stars set to be out of contract soon include Ross Moriarty, Elliot Dee, Sam Davies and Ollie Griffiths.
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