MLS Roster Deadline Day: Nine out-of-contract players & their potential landing spots

No time for an intro here. Nobody reads ledes anymore, anyway, unless it is “appalling,” “nightmare fuel,” “actively evil,” or “a desecration of the human spirit.”

So, here’s nine MLS guys who are out of contract and available to literally anyone in the league, be it via free agency or the re-entry draft.

• Christian Benteke, FW, D.C. United: The single most obvious1 one on the board. Benteke, the big No. 9 who is maybe the single best aerial presence in league history, is a 35-year-old veteran who led D.C. in goals the entire time he was there (3.5 seasons) and gave an otherwise helpless team an actual game model.

He was on a DP deal, which United understandably2 declined. He’s available via free agency now.

Teams that’d fit: Almost every CCC-qualified team should be calling him up and offering a max TAM contract. Of those Vancouver would seem like an excellent fit, while the Galaxy have the greatest need for a quality No. 9.

Beyond the CCC teams… Jesus wept at the idea of how much more potent Benteke would make Minnesota United’s Champagne (of Beers) Soccer game model.

• Walker Zimmeramn, CB, Nashville SC: If Benteke isn’t the most obvious, then it’s Zimmerman. Like Benteke he’s in his mid-30s and his DP contract was declined, and like Benteke he’s now a free agent.

Zimmerman wasn’t the same after that brutal early-season concussion, but I’d be shocked if he’s not back to being a high-level starting CB again next year.

Teams that’d fit: Literally any team with cap space and some GAM would make sense, though Zimmerman’s more of a floor-raiser than a ceiling-raise. A return to Dallas, then? Or how about a job with his hometown team, Atlanta United?

• Carlos Coronel, GK, RBNY: I’m operating under the assumption that Minnesota and Dayne St. Clair get a deal done, which makes Coronel the best free agent goalkeeper on the board.3

Teams that’d fit: If San Jose isn’t already on the phone with him they’ve messed up bad.

• Paul Rothrock, W, Seattle: Rothrock is an ideal fourth attacking starter for a good team because he adds value with the work he does off the ball, not on it. The dude makes a million sacrificial runs per 904 – meaning he doesn’t need the ball to affect the game in a massively positive way.

We saw it all year, and all of last year with the Sounders. Now he’s a free agent.

Teams that’d fit: The danger, of course, is that someone will see his numbers and his pedigree and think “oh, let’s make him a focal point.” That’d be a disaster; you don’t want to run the game through him.

But for a side that has its stars and has its structure, he’s a natural fit. He’d be an upgrade over Alex Muyl in Nashville, for example (Rothrock’s smarter and more dangerous with his off-ball work in possession and attack), or over Ivan Angulo in Orlando.

But really, the best fit remains Seattle. I hope they find a number that works for both parties.

• Fernando Álvarez, CB, Montréal Impact: I’m actually pretty surprised Montréal parted ways with Álvarez. He hasn’t been good – nobody there has been – but he’s 22, has a bunch of minutes and is pretty toolsy.

I suspect a return to Mexico is in the works. But we’ll see.

He’d be a re-entry draft guy, not a free agent.

Teams that’d fit: He’s a ball-carrying, progressive passing CB. Columbus – even with the departure of Wilfried Nancy imminent – should be on the horn already.

• Jacob Jackson, GK, FC Dallas: Jackson’s bounced around a ton – from New England to San Jose to San Diego to Dallas since 2022. So there are red flags here for the 25-year-old

But he was outstanding in college, then his shot-stopping numbers were consistently excellent in MLS Next Pro, and then in two of the past three seasons he put up very good numbers in MLS cameos (let’s not talk about 2024), including this past year with Dallas.

I think there might be a starting MLS goalkeeper in there, or at the very least a high-quality back-up. He’s a free agent.

Teams that’d fit: Get him back to San Jose, maybe? Or Orlando City, or Toronto, or D.C., or… look there’s a lot of MLS teams that could use a good ‘keeper.

One thing I’ll say, though, is that his distribution is not strong. So any team that wants to prioritize build-out should probably think twice.

• Mason Toye, FW, Sporting KC: It would be hard to trust Toye to a big role because of his injury history, but something sure seemed to click for him this past year with an otherwise dysfunctional Sporting KC side. It’s in the data:

I’m not saying he’s a 15-goal scorer waiting to happen like Musovski was, but Toye’s a 27-year-old free agent who absolutely knows where goals come from.

Teams that’d fit: The Galaxy are the obvious ones to me. They will have one of the best attacks in the league next year, have a million games to play, and need depth.

Houston are another, though, since I simply do not rate their center forward depth chart. I could see San Jose, or a return to Montréal as well.

• Jonathan Bell, CB, Seattle Sounders: Big, fast left-footer who can play either as a true CB or as a kind of fake fullback who stays deep as a back four morphs into a 3-2-5 in possession, as was his typical role this past year for Seattle.

His reads can be slow, which is why he hasn’t been able to become a consistent starter. But the tools are all there and it’s not unprecedented for guys his age – he’s 28, and a free agent – to improve.

Teams that’d fit: Almost everybody needs center backs. He’s a native of the DMV, so a return home to D.C. would make sense. He’s a very good fit for Orlando’s game model, so that’d make sense, too. So would Columbus, so would San Jose, so would Dallas, so would Austin… you get the picture.

• Sean Johnson, GK, Toronto FC: As mentioned above, Johnson is out of contract after an outstanding year for the Reds. Also as mentioned above, he’s about to be 37, so this is a two-year band-aid rather than a long-term solution.

Teams that’d fit: Anyone who intends to compete for a trophy and needs an upgrade. Nashville, Orlando, probably the Galaxy, maybe LAFC… lots of potential homes out there.

That’s it for now. There are potentially others on the way, mind you – NYCFC still hasn’t announced a deal with Justin Haak (who’s obviously still busy these days) just yet, and Matt Miazga’s future in Cincinnati remains unclear. There’s also the Josef Martinez situation: he and San Jose mutually parted ways, and everyone assumes Atlanta’s the next stop.

We’ll see. For now, though, I just wanted to provide some food for thought as we approach the true offseason.