MLS Announce Updated Roster Rules
See the changes on trades, buyouts, GAM, and more!
Tuesday saw Major League Soccer announce updates to its roster rules that will have implications for 2025 and years to come.
As GiveMeSport’s Tom Bogert reported on Monday, the Cash for Player Trade mechanism is now live.
Clubs can now use an unlimited amount of cash to acquire players from players within Major League Soccer that will not require them to send General Allocation Money or international roster spots. Clubs can acquire up to two and trade away up to two players yearly.
Clubs can take the cash generated via trade and convert it into General Allocation Money. Additionally, cash used to acquire players will apply to their Salary Budget charge.
If utilizing the Cash for Player Trade mechanism, no other forms of compensation can be included in the trade.
Finally, if the player involved in the trade occupies a designated player or U22 Player Initiative spot, the player must remain on that designation during the guaranteed term of the contract.
One interesting aspect of the mechanism revealed by the MLS Players Association is that players subject to the trade will receive 10% of the fee.
Tuesday’s update also saw the introduction of a second contract buyout that clubs can use in the offseason or in-season. Clubs looking to use the buyout in-season must use it before the Secondary Transfer Window.
Another big thing from Tuesday’s update was a modification to General Allocation Money’s expiration date.
In the past, GAM received as part of trades expired after three full transfer windows. Thanks to the update, GAM will no longer expire.
The one exception is GAM for opting into the U22 Player Initiative roster construction model. That GAM, which could be worth up to $2 million, must be used within the same league season acquired and must be used by the roster freeze date.
Tuesday also saw the introduction of off-roster Homegrowns, a mechanism intended to provide more opportunities for young players in league matches and cup competitions.
The move will allow young players to appear in up to six MLS matches and an unlimited amount of cup competition matches. Previously, young players were limited to four short-term loan agreements in a season.
2025 will also see a modification to the roster construction model. While clubs must choose between the designated player or U22 model by the roster compliance date, teams can change that designation from July 1st to the end of the Secondary Transfer Window on August 21st. Additionally we saw changes to the scheduling of transfer windows. The Primary Transfer Window will take place from January 31st through April 23rd. The Secondary Window will take place from July 24th through August 21st.
Finally, if teams decide to loan a designated player out after one season as a DP, and the club acquiring the DP on loan absorbs the entirety of the player’s contract, that player’s DP spot on the roster would become open during the duration of the loan.
I stopped reading after the 2nd paragraph. Not because it's not well-researched or well-written, but because this is so completely convoluted. Thanks for trying to make sense of this. I'll take it in small bites.