Jack Nowell says he has yet to decide on his future but admits it does feel like the “end of an era” at Exeter.
Cuts to the salary cap mean the Devon side are struggling to offer Nowell a new deal which is acceptable.
“I’m pretty open-minded, whatever comes comes, anything could happen,” Nowell said after the win over Northampton.
“I’m not saying I’m definitely leaving, but I’ve never been in a position where I’m in a position to speak to other clubs. I’ve always been signed up pretty quickly because it’s always something that I’ve wanted to do.”
Nowell has been with Exeter for his whole professional career and is closing in on 50 caps for England.
He has helped the Chiefs reach six Premiership finals – winning domestic titles in 2017 and 2020, as well as the 2020 European Champions Cup.
But flanked by his young daughter, Nowell was keen to stress he has to think about his family as he prepares for what could be the last major contract of his career.
“As much as I’d love to be here and stay here, I’ve got these guys to think abut, so that is why I’m spending a bit of time doing it and just seeing what happens.
“For me, if there is a chance to go abroad and try something different then obviously that’s what I’d like to do.”
Nowell’s fellow homegrown Lions, Sam Simmonds and Luke Cowan-Dickie, are already both leaving Exeter this summer, with the lower £5m salary cap continuing to restrict the Premiership club.
It is a situation Nowell says he understands, but finds frustrating.
“Covid did a lot of bad stuff to a lot of different teams, and it’s not just Wasps and Worcester which are the obvious ones. There’s a lot of other stuff going on behind the scenes with other teams as well,” he said.
“I completely understand why they’re doing it and how they’re doing it, but at the same time I’ve got to look after myself and look after my family.
“I’m not sure what I’m doing, but the big thing we do know is Dickie’s leaving, Simmo’s leaving and when Simmo announced it, it was big for the club, but I’ve played with Dickie since we were four years old, so this is the first time now we’re going our separate ways.
“The only thing we keep talking about is that we finish on a high for this club.
“We’ve had many highs and lows and we certainly remember the highs. We want to make sure we finish with one this year.”
