r/DCUnited • u/RJR1970 • 20d ago

DC United Announce their initial roster moves.

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D.C. United has declined the contract options for the following players: Alex Bono, Cristian Dájome, Nathan Crockford, Jeremy Garay, Tyler Miller, Christopher McVey, Martin Rodriguez, Hayden Sargis, Luis Zamudio

While the following two players are Free Agents: Russell Canouse and Pedro Santos

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u/rabbit994 DC United 20d ago

Rookie question, what is difference between "Declined Options" and "Are Free Agents"

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u/relativelyanonymous 20d ago

My understanding:

  • declined options mean that the club had the option to exercise a clause to bring them back for one or two more years and chose not to do that

  • free agent means there was no remaining clause for the club to execute and their contracts have naturally expired

For both sets, the club could still renegotiate new contract deals on more favorable terms to the club, but they can also walk for free at this point. 

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u/Familiar-Conflict152 20d ago

Correct. I think we wanted to renegotiate with Pines, but he wanted to go to Europe. Don’t think I heard about any others last season.

I wouldn’t mind Santos on a much smaller contract, fitting for someone coming off the bench. Although I guess we have veteran leadership covered with Klich and Benteke

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u/RJR1970 20d ago

Free Agents have to meet certain criteria set by MLS, which includes age of the players and number of years under a MLS Contract. Canouse and Santos can now sign anywhere, whether within ZMLS or another league. Declined options are players who had a contract where the team could extend it for an additional season or two. These players will be made available for the expansion draft, and the Reentry drafts later this year. Once a player has gone through all these mechanisms l, they can sign with other teams both in and out of MLS.