on 13 october 2014, boyd requested a trade to the western bulldogs. this development was made even more remarkable considering that only days prior, bulldogs' captain ryan griffen had requested a trade away from the club and brendan mccartney had resigned as senior coach. despite the giants initial stance claiming that boyd would not be traded under any circumstances, two days after boyd handed in his trade request, he was traded to the bulldogs in exchange for griffen and pick 6 in the 2014 afl draft. he later signed a seven-year, $7 million contract with the bulldogs.