MLS Eastern Conf. Roster Cuts | OneFootball

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·16 dicembre 2025

MLS Eastern Conf. Roster Cuts

Immagine dell'articolo:MLS Eastern Conf. Roster Cuts

November is the traditional culling time for the MLS. After growing fat on the harvests of late summer and autumn, the clubs study their rosters and look for ways to trim the fat, expel the poison, etc.

This year, all thirty teams went through this process. Some performed the task with more vigor and ruthlessness; others made minimal changes. We’ll break down how the Eastern Conference clubs shaped after the annual bloodletting.

Atlanta United

October roster size: 30
Total players released: 6 (20% of roster)
Released player value: $1,652,864 (6% of overall team salary)
Notable moves: four of the six cuts were defenders. Noah Cobb, a 20-year old defender who departed mid-season to Colorado on loan, made his move permanent. Atlanta will receive $525K GAM for him.

Charlotte FC

October roster size: 33
Total players released: 7 (21% of roster)
Released player value: $2,911,685 (15% of overall team salary)
Notable moves: Center-back Adilson Malanda, who was on loan, returned to his home club Middlesbrough. Wing-back Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty, who made 30 appearances in 2025, is expected to return to CF Montréal. His loan did not include a buy clause. Midfielder Eryk Williamson, who only made 24 appearances with 4 starts, did not get his contract option renewed.

Chicago Fire

October roster size: 34
Total players released: 6 (18% of roster)
Released player value: $3,125,602 (14% of overall team salary)
Notable moves: The biggest shake-up is the transfer of midfielder Brian Gutiérrez to Chivas in the LigaMX. Chicago are expected to take a $5M transfer fee for the 22 year-old homegrown player, who over the summer switched international allegiance from the US to Mexico. Chicago retains a sell-on fee. That financial windfall will help Greg Berhalter continue his rebuild of the Fire, who made the MLS playoffs for the first time since 2017 last October.

FC Cincinnati

October roster size: 30
Total players released: 6 (20% of roster)
Released player value: $2,808,448 (12% of overall team salary)
Notable moves: Two big players had their loans expire. Polish midfielder Dominik Marczuk will return to parent club Real Salt Lake after spending the latter half of the season with Cincy. Danish wingback Lukas Engel will go back to Middlesbrough after making 36 appearances for the Blue and Orange. He contributed 4 assists.

Columbus Crew

October roster size: 28
Total players released: 4 (14% of roster)
Released player value: $2,426,083 (13% of overall team salary)
Notable moves: Midfielder Darlington Nagbe announced his retirement. The 35 year-old spent 14 years in the MLS playing for Portland Timbers, Atlanta United and the Crew. He also earned 25 caps with the USMNT between 2015-18.

D.C. United

October roster size: 28
Total players released: 6 (21% of roster)
Released player value: $6,717,900 (45% of overall team salary)
Notable moves: Belgian striker Christian Benteke is once again without a team, after DC United declined to extend his contract. Though his 9g/3a contributed 40% of the club’s total output, it didn’t quite justify his sky-high salary. United earned the Wooden Spoon on the final game of the season when they drew Atlanta 1 – 1, and are desperate for a rebuild.

Inter Miami

October roster size: 27
Total players released: 4 (15% of roster)
Released player value: $1,630,708 (3% of overall team salary)
Notable moves: Neither Jordi Alba or Sergio Busquets, whose retirements were announced in the late summer, are listed on the official departure notices. Yet. Haitian striker Fafà Picault was dropped, and right back Marcelo Weigandt’s loan from Boca Juniors will expire at the end of December.

CF Montréal

October roster size: 28
Total players released: 4 (14% of roster)
Released player value: $3,436,875 (27% of overall team salary)
Notable moves: Only four departures, but one made a big impact on the bottom line. The club parted ways with Albanian forward and Designated Player Giacomo Vrioni. Vrioni only made 9 appearances with the club, scoring 3 times, as he battled multiple recurring injuries.

Nashville SC

October roster size: 32
Total players released: 9 (28% of roster)
Released player value: $6,351,428 (28% of overall team salary)
Notable moves: Nashville made the joint biggest cuts in the East (along with Toronto). 32 year-old defender Walker Zimmerman is the biggest departure, leaving a big hole to fill in that backline. Three other junior defenders were also trimmed, along with midfielders Gastón Brugman and Bryan Acosta, forwards Teal Bunbury and Maximus Ekk and veteran goalkeeper Joe Willis.

New England Revolution

October roster size: 28
Total players released: 3 (11% of roster)
Released player value: $1,881,313 (10% of overall team salary)
Notable moves: Cameroonian forward Ignatius Ganago, on loan from Nantes, will return to France.

New York City FC

October roster size: 33
Total players released: 2 (6% of roster)
Released player value: $161,244 (1% of overall team salary)
Notable moves: None. NYCFC made the smallest reduction in roster size, with the smallest impact on roster spend.

New York Red Bulls

October roster size: 35
Total players released: 3 (9% of roster)
Released player value: $1,289,149 (6% of overall team salary)
Notable moves: Paraguayan keeper Carlos Coronel, Jamaican defender Kyle Duncan and Ghanaian defender Curtis Ofori were all dropped. Ofori only played with the Red Bulls second team.

Orlando City SC

October roster size: 29
Total players released: 8 (24% of roster)
Released player value: $3,026,464 (19% of overall team salary)
Notable moves: There was some serious housecleaning in Orlando. Long-time goalkeeper Pedro Gallese’s contract was not renewed, leaving him without a club after five years with the Lions. Homegrown defender Thomas Williams was traded to Nashville SC for $100K GAM and a SuperDraft pick. At 21, he mainly featured with Orlando’s MLS Next Pro team. Icelandic defender Dagur Dan Thórhallsson was traded to CF Montréal for a cool $500K GAM, and they retain a sell-on fee as well as other incentives that could bring them an additional $125K in GAM.

Philadelphia Union

October roster size: 31
Total players released: 8 (23% of roster)
Released player value: $3,194,223 (24% of overall team salary)
Notable moves: The Supporter’s Shield winners allowed three player contracts to expire, and declined the options on another four. The most significant player impacted was 31 year old Danish forward Mikael Uhre. Over 31 appearances he registered 6g/7a. His departure clears up over $2.2M in salary. After loaning homegrown USYNT midfielder David Vazquez to San Diego FC in July, his move will be made permanent. Union will receive $250K in GAM (with an equal amount on the line in incentives), plus a sell-on/trade cut.

Toronto FC

October roster size: 29
Total players released: 9 (31% of roster)
Released player value: $4,588,192 (34% of overall team salary)
Notable moves: Toronto made the joint biggest cuts in the East (along with Nashville), saying farewell to three forwards (including Haitian Derrick Etienne Jr.), two midfielders (one of them was Switzerland’s Maxime Dominguez), three defenders (among them starting center-back Sigurd Rosted) and starting goalkeeper Sean Johnson.

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