Richmond secured former North Melbourne and West Coast forward Aaron Edwards on Friday to bolster its depth as it prepares for a serious tilt at a first finals appearance in more than a decade.

The Tigers sent AFL Draft pick 74 to the Kangaroos for Edwards, who will provide back up for Jack Riewoldt and Tyrone Vickery and fills the void left by Brad Miller's retirement.

Edwards played 82 AFL matches with the Eagles and North, kicking 124 goals.

"We felt we needed another forward to bring in," Richmond football manager Craig Cameron told Trade Week Radio.

"Brad Miller obviously retired at the end of this year and we suffered a little bit when Tyrone Vickery went down last year in terms of our goal output.

"Aaron was available, we saw it as an area we were probably at risk if we had a number of injuries, so we thought for a fourth-round draft pick it wasn't a bad trade."

The Tigers have been steadily improving under coach Damien Hardwick, and are focused on reaching the top eight in 2013.

The club has been happy to blood youngsters in recent years, Cameron said, but the time had come to add depth to an improving list.

"When we got injuries last year we were bringing in a lot of kids that weren't quite ready," he said.

"While that's been OK in the last couple of years in trying to give them experience, it's really important for us to give our squad a chance to play finals next year.

"If we get injuries, we don't want to be going back to guys who have played one game or no games or kids who just aren't ready.

"We'd prefer seasoned players running out for us."

Edwards resurrected his career at North Melbourne, with his best season coming in 2011, kicking 36 goals from his 19 appearances.