The 24-year-old had an option in his favour on a modest deal for next season but attracted interest from a number of rival clubs - chiefly the Warriors - before committing to the Dragons on an upgraded deal.

Currently in the midst of his best season in the top grade, Kerr said he wanted to repay the club for the faith it's shown in him since luring him north from Melbourne three years ago.

"To be able to sign a longer term deal with the club that's shown so much faith in me is a pretty special feeling," Kerr said.

"I had thoughts about maybe going back home to Brisbane, I had a decent offer from the Warriors as well, but it was my first priority to see where the Dragons were at.

"Front-rowers do take time to develop but I feel like now I'm starting to find my feet. The whole process of becoming a front-rower from being a scrawny winger slash fullback... it's been a journey but the club's shown a lot of faith in me in that regard.

"Now it's done it's just that good feeling of having all the hard work paying off and having that security."

Having been signed out of Melbourne's NYC system it was he first time in his career he'd been at the centre of a tug-of-war for his services.

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It something that was admittedly in the back of his mind in recent weeks but, with the deal rubber-stamped, he's keen to take his game up a level.

"I didn't think it would play on my mind but it probably did a little bit," he said.

"Every game I was heading into this year, it was in the back of my head knowing there's clubs looking at you and you need to do this or that

"I wanted to stay with the Dragons and hoped they wanted to keep me. It was playing on my mind a little bit but when I agreed to terms I thought I had probably my best game on the weekend.

"It made it a lot easier to just go out there and not think about anything else during the game other than my job."

The deal will make him a long-term cog in pack that could look very different in coming years, with Tyson Frizell and James Graham departing and Jacob Host off-contract.

The club has also begun tentative talks with Jack de Belin, who's without a deal for 2021, though his future remains uncertain as court proceedings continue.

It leaves Kerr with longest deal for a forward at the club as he looks to build on a breakout year and possibly put himself in the Queensland selection frame.

The Redcliffe product, represented the Maroons at NYC and junior level and has ambitions to do so at Origin level over the length of his deal.

"I had a lot of goals coming into the season, the main one is playing every game this year," he said.

"Beyond that I'd like to put my name in the mix for rep footy. It might be wishful thinking at this stage but, if you look at front-rowers, there's not as much depth for Queensland as there is for NSW.

"With it being at the end of the season this year, I feel like I'm getting better and better each week. If I can keep doing that it'd be good to at least have my name mentioned there.

"It's something I want to achieve but I know I've still got a heap to improve on for the Dragons so that's my focus."