He's worth every bit of a first round pick. The club is actively pursuing him so to be willing to pay overs they probably see us as seriously challenging for a flag within three years and he's a missing piece that will get us there.
We all argue about what player X is worth giving up for but the bottom line is what the club thinks we need from that player to get us the next Premiership.
And if you traded a first round pick for Barass before, you'd would've given up players like Watson, Day or Weddle. And you would not trade any of those players for Barass right now, who may or many not have 50 games left in his career.