NFL
By Keith Richards
With the 2024 MLS Expansion Draft for San Diego FC set to take place tomorrow, December 11th, the Colorado Rapids announced its protected players and who will be available for the expansion draft this morning. With Generation Adidas and Homegrown players being automatically protected, each club could choose 12 players to protect, making everyone else available. The Colorado Rapids have made their decision.
The following players were selected by the Rapids to be protected from the 2024 MLS Expansion Draft:
- Goalkeeper: Zack Steffen
- Defenders: Chidozie Awaziem, Reggie Cannon, Ian Murphy, Keegan Rosenberry, Sam Vines
- Midfielders: Wayne Frederick, Djordje Mihailovic, Connor Ronan
- Forwards: Kevin Cabral, Calvin Harris, Rafael Navarro
The following players are automatically protected from the 2024 MLS Expansion Draft:
- Goalkeeper: Adam Beaudry (Homegrown)
- Defenders: Sebastian Anderson (Homegrown), Michael Edwards (Homegrown), Jackson Travis (Homegrown)
- Midfielders: Cole Bassett (Homegrown), Oliver Larraz (Homegrown)
- Forwards: Kimani Stewart-Baynes (Generation Adidas), Darren Yapi (Homegrown)
So, that leaves the following players as not protected and available for the 2024 MLS Expansion Draft:
- Goalkeeper: Ethan Bandre
- Defenders: Lalas Abubakar, Daniel Chacon, Nate Jones, Andreas Maxso
- Midfielders: Omir Fernandez, Jasper Loffelsend
- Forwards: Remi Cabral, Jonathan Lewis
Is there a rhyme or reason for which players were protected and which were not? For most players, we can make safe assumptions about why they were protected or made available.
For the most part, we only need to look at the year-end roster updates provided by the Rapids on November 27th. Steffen, Cannon, Vines, Frederick, Mihailovic, Ronan, and Navarro are all under contract until at least 2026. Seeing that most of those players are major contributors to the squad’s turnaround, the potential of losing them to San Diego in the expansion draft is just not worth it.
If the Rapids have a player selected by San Diego FC, their return is only $50,000 in General Allocation Money (GAM). It would take some serious mental gymnastics to justify most of the players in the paragraph above not being available for the Expansion Draft. The logic is just not there.
On the other hand, there are players for whom it makes sense that the Rapids do not protect them from the Expansion Draft. Jonathan Lewis’ contract expired with Rapids. While the Rapids and Lewis are still in discussions, making him available is logical.
Since joining the Rapids in 2019, Jonny has scored 26 goals in 143 matches, ranking among the club’s top 10. Lewis did see a slight resurgence this season, but had Kevin Cabral remained healthy, Lewis’ opportunities would likely have been drastically different. Lalas Abubakar is in a similar position.
The Colorado Rapids declined Abubakar’s 2025 option. At the time, Lalas’ salary was the most significant factor in that decision. Abubakar’s guaranteed compensation for 2024 is $702,125. Though Lalas picked up a lot of unexpected slack this season after Moise Bombito was sold to Nice, over 700K is a formidable salary to swallow. On Monday, though, the fate of Lalas Abubakar was likely sealed.
On the half-day trade window, the Colorado Rapids acquired defenders Chidozie Awaziem and Ian Murphy from FC Cincinnati. In exchange, Cincinnati will receive $1 million in GAM. If Chidozie and Murphy meet certain performance levels are met, FC Cincinnati is in for possibly an additional $200,000 GAM.
Finally, Cincinnati will receive a percentage of any fee for Awaziem and Murphy if they trade within MLS or transfer outside the league. With what the Rapids gave Cincy for those two players, there was no question that both would be protected from the Expansion Draft. Though not a starter, Michael Edwards is younger and will not carry as large a cap hit as Abubakar, which makes Lalas the odd man out. All this is not to say that Colorado will not come to terms with Lalas, but it isn’t very likely.
The Rapids declined the 2025 club option for Bandre. He is the odd man out at the keeper position. Chacon’s contract only goes through 2025, with a club option for 2026. He’s either been on loan or injured for the past couple of seasons. Nate Jones’ contract also only goes through 2025. He doesn’t appear to be in the plans for the Rapids anytime soon. Loffelsend is likely the odd man out in a loaded midfield. He also only has a contract through 2025 with club options after that. Remi Cabral had his 2025 club option declined as well. Currently, he is not in discussions with the club. That leaves Andreas Maxso and Omir Fernandez.
When you stop to think about it, from a financial perspective, I suppose the decision to make Andreas available makes sense on a very low level. Maxso’s contract is only through 2025, with a club option for 2026. Also, the hit on the salary cap is sizable. Andreas is the fourth highest-paid player on the team, with $1.34 million in guaranteed compensation.
Even from a financial perspective, I cannot say I fully understand the decision, even if you include the acquisition of the center-backs from Cincinnati. The overall quality of play is debatable. What is not debatable is his availability. In sports, availability is the best ability.
During his two seasons with the Rapids, Andreas Maxso has played 5,985 minutes of the 6,030 minutes he could have played, including every minute of the 2024 season. In the 2023 season, Maxso missed one game due to a concussion and played 2,925 of the 2,970 minutes he could have played.
Andreas has missed only 45 minutes of possible play in two seasons with Colorado. For a team that has struggled with injury over the past two seasons, the availability of Maxso is vital. While the Danish center-back may not be the speedster that Moise Bombito was, Andreas still had 95 clearances in 2024 and 122 in 2023. His 95 clearances in 2024 were second in MLS. So, it was a little puzzling why Andreas Maxso is available.
Why Omir Fernandez is available is even more bewildering. Omir’s contract goes through 2026, with a club option for 2027. His guaranteed compensation of $636,875 in 2024 was only 12th on the team, which includes two players who aren’t even on the team anymore. While it is fair to say his performance on the pitch was underwhelming at the end of the season, we could also say the same for Sam Vines. Vines’ guaranteed compensation is over $200,000 more, and he did not have a stellar season either.
I won’t pretend that it was easy to make. The Rapids have a loaded midfield, and both Bassett and Larraz are coming off outstanding seasons. Making Mihailovic and Ronan protected players was a no-brainer. That leaves Fernandez, Loffelsend, and Frederick.
Of those three, I feel Omir Fernandez has a brighter future with the Colorado Rapids. Now, it is essential to note that players will be picked just because they are available. It’s unlikely that San Diego picks Fernandez…or is it? It seems like a risk that’s not worth taking. It’s just my opinion. I feel it’s valid.
The 2024-25 MLS Offseason kicks into high gear over the next week. Following the Expansion Draft tomorrow, several other events follow:
- December 12th – Free Agency opens at 1 PM EST
- December 12th – End-of-Year Waivers starts at 5 PM EST
- December 20th – The 2025 MLS SuperDraft
If the Colorado Rapids make any more moves, Team NBS will let you know what they are. If not, see you in 2025 for the Winter Transfer Window!
