Mike Meredith/Club and Country
From Club release:
Nashville SC exercised contract options on:
- Josh Bauer
- Lukas MacNaughton
Nashville SC declined contract options on:
- Kemy Amiche
- Nick DePuy
- Tyler Freeman
- Ahmed Longmire
- Nebiyou Perry
- Laurence Wyke
- Ethan Zubak
The following players are out of contract:
- Luke Haakenson
- Dax McCarty
- Fafà Picault
DePuy, McCarty, Picault and Zubak are eligible for free agency. To be eligible for free agency, players must be at least 24 years old the year the preceding league season concludes and have at least five MLS service years. Clubs are free to engage available free agents starting at noon CT on Dec. 13.
Nashville SC release
Few surprises there. I would imagine but cannot confirm that Nashville will attempt to re-pursue McCarty and Picault in free agency (at a lower budget point than each made this year – McCarty made $302,500 and Picault $650,000). Keeping both them while shaving some of the budget off what they’re owed would be ideal.
As for the outgoings, it’s a bummer to see Nick DePuy – who literally never got to see the field for NSC after he arrived from LA Galaxy injured – not get another chance. There is no right of first refusal for negotiating with option-decline players, so it’s right into the free-agency pool with him. The others all make sense, with only Haakenson, Wyke, and Zubak (the first two headed to the re-entry draft, Zubak to free agency) even seeing time with the senior team.
As Wes and I discussed on this week’s podcast, Zubak is in an easy position to upgrade either production-wise or in terms of production per dollar (i.e. spend more money for a more-productive player, or spend less money – $209k last year – for an equally productive player).
The roster as it stands, from the same release:
Goalkeepers: Ben Martino, Elliot Panicco, Joe Willis
Defenders: Josh Bauer, Daniel Lovitz, Lukas MacNaughton, Jack Maher, Shaq Moore, Taylor Washington, Walker Zimmerman
Midfielders: Tah Brian Anunga, Sean Davis, Aníbal Godoy, Randall Leal, Hany Mukhtar, Alex Muyl, Jacob Shaffelburg, Joey Skinner
Forwards: Teal Bunbury, Adem Sipić*, Sam Surridge
Nashville SC release
MLSPA’s list of players with options is very different from the one that NSC acted on (Bunbury, Lovitz, Washington were on option years according to the Players’ Association), but that may just mean that NSC negotiated new contracts with those guys without publicizing them.
#HotTimWinter is upon us.
Club and Country 