Franklin played in the 2013 AFL Grand Final in which Hawthorn defeated Fremantle; this was the second time that he had played in a Hawthorn premiership winning side. Despite this, his season was dominated by media speculation over his contract situation, and playing in a second premiership at Hawthorn only strengthened rumours of his impending departure, with many believing that he was set to finish his career at Hawthorn on a high note.
On 1 October 2013, after months of speculation dating back to before the start of the season, Greater Western Sydney shocked the football public by announcing that it had withdrawn its offer of $1.2 million per year for six years, saying that the club was of the belief that Franklin was set to sign with the Sydney Swans. The Sydney Swans' chairman, Andrew Ireland, said later that day that the contract offered to Franklin was a nine-year deal worth $10 million, and that Franklin's management first approached Sydney about the move shortly after the 2012 AFL Grand Final, when Franklin played in a losing side against the Swans. The next day, Franklin said that he did not make his decision to move to Sydney "until the last minute". He also said, "I'm looking forward to getting up to Sydney. It's a great footy club and, as I said, I had to pack my bags up at Hawthorn and saying goodbye to the boys is something very tough, and upsetting, too". Franklin's manager at the time, Liam Pickering, also revealed that the nine-year contract was so back-ended that he would be making less money with the Swans in 2014–15 than he was at Hawthorn in 2013.
Franklin officially joined the Sydney Swans on 8 October 2013, a week after the move was first announced, after Hawthorn decided against matching the offer made to the restricted free agent. The next day, Franklin was unveiled by the Swans at the SCG. Later in October, Franklin travelled to Ireland with the Australian International Rules team for the 2013 International Rules Series. It was the first time that Franklin had represented Australia in international rules football, and he managed one over in the first match of the two-test series. Following the first match, he travelled back to Australia for the wedding of his former teammate Brent Guerra, and was unable to participate in the second match.