Philadelphia Union Roster Construction for 2024

A hint of what is to come in 2025?

Let's get this out of the way—yes, this is the second post in two days. Wild, I know. I apologize for the break in posting; it has been incredibly hectic in my life as a dad of two boys, but also in the world of the Philadelphia Union. As always, thank you to everyone who financially supports my work. It means a lot and serves as a huge vote of confidence in the effort I put into covering the Union and the sport as a whole.

Now, onto the actual article, which I promise is pretty interesting.

Yesterday at midnight, teams across the league had to finalize their roster construction for the remainder of 2024—a new procedure due to roster changes that came into effect on July 18. Teams had to choose between two different paths: one that allows for three Designated Players (DP) and three Under-22 (U22) initiative players, and another that permits two DPs and four U22 players. This is a departure from previous years when sporting directors had to construct rosters that only allowed three U22 players if they had two designated players. Having options is good, and it’s painfully obvious which path the Union chose ahead of the announcement. But is this a sign of what the team will choose next season? I think so.

Credit: MLS PR

First, what are the benefits of a U-22 player? To keep it brief, these players can be paid a higher salary but hit the salary cap at a much lower rate, allowing teams to bring in very talented players (or reclassify current ones) from abroad and reward them with a healthy salary without immediately blowing up the team’s budget. A perfect example is Gómez from Inter Miami FC. According to the MLSPA salary guide, he has a guaranteed compensation of $504,167.00, but his salary cap hit is only $200,000. There are a few more nuances to figure out the exact rate, but this is the best example to avoid turning this article into a level 300 academic paper—and lord knows I’ve had to write way too many of those.

As of today, with the transfer deadline behind us, the Union roster includes two DPs (Gazdag and Uhre) and one U22 player (Makhanya). Based on the explanation above, if nothing changes roster-wise with these players, the Union would have the ability to roster three more players with the benefit of having their salaries hit the cap at a much lower rate.

Credit: Carl Gulbish and MLS

So, what will the Union do next year? Two key points suggest an educated guess: the possibility of reclassifying young Americans like McGlynn (though this seems unlikely given the interest abroad) and Sullivan(s) to the U22 designation. This strategy would allow the Union to reward them with a better salary while keeping their cap hit lower.

Here’s what Curtin said back in April when I asked him about the roster changes, which at the time were just rumors:

"How do you use them? Or maybe, as a club—just thinking out loud—we could focus on using them for good young American players. That could be a strategy for us, where you secure them for a while, and they hit your cap at a much friendlier number for the length of that contract. So, strategically, there's a lot of internal discussion going on."

And a clip of Ernst Tanner during last night's town hall:

"And I don't disagree with you about when we should use the Under-22 initiative or when we have a better chance to do so. But if you look across the league, there have been a lot of 'misses' with the Under-22 initiative. We also need to recognize that we have many academy players who are essentially Under-22 initiative players by other standards. We're bringing them in, and I'm talking about a player like McGlynn, who basically fits that status.

We could even include Quinn Sullivan, who essentially has that status. And then there are the players we've already had, like Paxten—these are basically our Under-22 initiative players. But even so, we want to explore this further in the future, and we now have an even better opportunity to act in that sense.... We have nine games left in the regular season, so our focus will be on that, and we'll revisit this in the winter when we can bring new forces and infusions to our roster."

With those clips in mind, why wouldn’t a team that lives and breathes development and the subsequent sale of prospects be eager to go the U22 route? It allows them to gamble on bringing in new players with huge upside at a much more reasonable salary rate, while also being tempted to reclassify current players to better reward them and get a few more years of service before they move on to the next stage of their careers.

Credit: Carl Gulbish

Again, there’s still a lot left in the season with nine games remaining and, hopefully, a few more Leagues Cup matches to worry about before focusing on what the Union will do next year.

But it does beg the question, especially considering that three players are currently without contracts for next year (Lowe, Flach, and Bedoya), the reported sale of José Andrés Martínez, as well as the departures of Odada, Ngabo, and potentially Torres (who is on loan at Universidad Católica of Chile), freeing up about $2.3 million in salary space.

Credit: Carl Gulbish

Best of luck to Ernst Tanner, Jim Curtin, and Chris Zitterbart as they navigate these unprecedented waters of roster freedom for the first time.