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The Union spent more than $4M in guaranteed compensation in 2014, not including any transfer fees that may have been paid in the offseason or during the summer transfer window. Here's a look at the summer signings and how things stack up for next season.
The rumor mill greatly over estimated Rais M'Bolhi's salary. Some reports had his salary near $600K. In the end his annual compensation is listed at $240K, well below the DP level. That makes M'Bolhi the 5th highest paid goalkeeper in MLS, which seems very reasonable given his resume.
Carlos Valdes came home and was given a slight bump in pay to $296K to return. Prior to leaving the Union to make his personal World Cup run, Valdes earned $280K annually.
The summer signing of Jamaican goal phenom Brian Brown turns out to be a very low risk move, even if the reward appears to be equally as low. Brown was brought over on loan for $53,004 in guaranteed compensation, and that is before proration.
Here are the final guaranteed compensation numbers for the Union's 29 roster players this season. The salaries of the summer signings are listed at half their listed amount in an effort to estimate what the prorated salary might be.
| Player | 2014 Guaranteed Compensation | |||||||
| 1 | Edu! | $650,000 | ||||||
| 2 | Maidana! | $198,750 | ||||||
| 3 | Nogueira | $330,000 | ||||||
| 4 | Le Toux | $262,813 | ||||||
| 5 | Wenger | $242,000 | ||||||
| 6 | Okugo | $228,000 | ||||||
| 7 | Casey | $192,500 | ||||||
| 8 | Carroll | $185,220 | ||||||
| 9 | Valdes% | $147,500 | ||||||
| 10 | Cruz | $131,667 | ||||||
| 11 | Williams | $130,500 | ||||||
| 12 | M'Bolhi% | $120,000 | ||||||
| 13 | MacMath | $120,000 | ||||||
| 14 | Lahoud | $102,333 | ||||||
| 15 | Fabinho | $100,500 | ||||||
| 16 | White | $80,000 | ||||||
| 17 | Fred | $65,460 | ||||||
| 18 | Gaddis | $52,313 | ||||||
| Off Budget Players (estimated) | ||||||||
| 19 | Brown% | $26,502 | ||||||
| 20 | Bone | $51,325 | ||||||
| 21 | Berry | $101,994 | ||||||
| 22 | Wheeler | $48,825 | ||||||
| 23 | Blake^ | $113,000 | ||||||
| 24 | Pfeffer** | $85,000 | ||||||
| 25 | Fernandes** | $48,500 | ||||||
| 26 | Hoppenot | $54,450 | ||||||
| 27 | Marquez | $36,504 | ||||||
| 28 | Ribeiro | $36,504 | ||||||
| 29 | Hernandez | $72,500 | ||||||
| 30 | ||||||||
| Totals | $4,014,660 | |||||||
| ** Homegrown Player | ||||||||||
| ^ Generation Adidas player | ||||||||||
| ! Designated Player | ||||||||||
| % Salaries are both estimated and proporated | ||||||||||
The Union doled out over $4M in guaranteed compensation this season, which is in line with estimates for what they spent in season's prior. It should be noted that Bone, McLaughlin and Hernandez are currently listed as inactive on the roster, so some of this money may not be actually paid out by the Union.
With the signing of the new MLS television contract going into effect in 2015, a new jersey sponsor deal, and a higher expected budget following what will be a tense CBA negotiation, the Union should be able to dramatically increase their salaries next season. It's conceivable that the Union spend more than $5M on players next year, a 25% increase in pay.
Using the full year salary of the summer signings and assuming an across the board 10% pay raise on average for players, the Union salary increases to $4.7M next season. Even though some players will come and some will go, the Union should have a good amount of room to spend and increase the talent.
Obviously BrotherlyGame.com will have many thoughts on what moves the Union should make this offseason, but it's good to know that the Union FO should have flexibility in how they acquire new talent.