FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The lockers have been emptied. Exit physicals have been completed. Some of the players have already returned to their hometowns to begin a longer-than-anticipated offseason.

For all intents and purposes, the New England Revolution have moved on to 2017.

That’s unquestionably the mindset of the Revolution’s technical staff, which now begins the task of assembling a roster for the start of preseason on January 23, just 84 days away.

Of the 25 players who ended the 2016 season on New England’s roster, some already have guaranteed deals for next year. Some have club options. Some are out of contract entirely.

Determining who’s returning – and who isn’t – is the first step in the process for General Manager Michael Burns, head coach Jay Heaps, and the rest of the Revolution’s technical staff.

“That’s an important phase right now,” said Heaps. “It’s a little bit of taking a deep breath, looking at the roster we have, (and determining) what it’s going to look like going into 2017 from current players – players that are out of contract, players that will be here, players that won’t be here.

“We’re formalizing the final plan, but I think for me the most important thing is to assess the locker room and assess who’s going to be back next year. Once we make those final decisions, then the other pieces start to kind of formulate.”

Once there’s a full understanding of who’s returning, a better assessment can be made of exactly which areas need improvement and what kind of resources the Revs will have to address those needs. Heaps has already identified the backline as an area that requires reinforcements after a difficult 2016.

The other half of that assessment is determining how the Revs will aim to fulfill each need. They’ve largely found success acquiring MLS veterans through trades within the league – Juan Agudelo, Teal Bunury, Kei Kamara, Brad Knighton, Daigo Kobayashi, Gershon Koffie, and Je-Vaughn Watson all came from within MLS – while the international market opens the door to a wealth of options.

There’s also a pair of Re-Entry Drafts, the SuperDraft and free agency; no shortage of ways for the Revs to improve their roster after what was a disappointing and inconsistent 2016 campaign.

“The key now is the assessment – the true assessment of what went wrong, where do we need to improve, and what went well to make sure we carry that forward into 2017,” Heaps said. “But the reality is, we came up short and we need to find out the real reasons why.”