FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The first domino of the New England Revolution’s offseason fell on Monday afternoon when the club announced that 19 players are currently under contract for the 2017 campaign.
That figure includes 12 players who had their contract options exercised and another seven who were already under contract for next season. The club retains 11 players who made 20 or more appearances last year, including Designated Player Kei Kamara, Santander Team MVP Kelyn Rowe, 2016 MLS All-Star Andrew Farrell, and local favorites Scott Caldwell, Diego Fagundez and Chris Tierney.
Central midfielder and Designated Player Xavier Kouassi will also return in 2017 after missing the entirety of his debut MLS season following right knee surgery, as will Golden Boot winner Juan Agudelo.
“We feel confident in the group we’re retaining for 2017,” General Manager Michael Burns said via e-mail while on an international scouting trip. “However, we also acknowledge that we need to add to the roster to get back to where we want to be.”
While New England will return much of the attacking corps that formed their 2016 squad, they’ll also be looking to make key additions to the roster – including in midfield and along the backline – after conceding 54 goals last year and missing out on the postseason for the first time since 2012.
“We fell short of our 2016 objectives and we can’t enter 2017 in a status quo situation,” Burns said. “We have to try to improve the roster for 2017 and beyond.”
Following Monday’s string of moves – Jordan McCrary and Steve Neumann had their options declined, while Darrius Barnes, Jose Goncalves, Daigo Kobayashi and Gershon Koffie are out of contract – the Revs have both the roster space and the budgetary flexibility to do just that, according to Burns.
But the Revs’ GM also didn’t rule out the possibility of bringing back some of those out-of-contract players, confirming that New England remain in talks with some – but not all – of that group.
Meanwhile, Burns and the rest of the Revolution’s technical staff are also preparing for another Expansion Draft, as both Atlanta United and Minnesota United FC will have the opportunity to pluck players from other MLS sides on December 13 ahead of their inaugural MLS campaigns.
“I’ve stated this many times – expansion is fantastic from a league perspective,” Burns said. “But from a team retention and building standpoint, it presents significant challenges that we’re forced to deal with.”
That Expansion Draft will mark the next phase of the offseason calendar – followed by Stage One (Dec. 16) and Stage Two (Dec. 22) of the Re-Entry Draft – but in the meantime, the Revs continue their quest to strengthen the squad on the international market.
“Scouting is a 12-month process and conversations are always ongoing to add to the roster,” Burns said. “We haven’t announced any signings for 2017 yet, but we hope to do so in due time.”
