After a successful 2024 season that saw Real Salt Lake finish 3rd place in the MLS Western Conference, many would agree that their 9th place “play-in” game finish in 2025 that saw them eliminated in the Wild Card game would categorize this season as a disappointment.

Real Salt Lake were all over the place this season. The team went winless in MLS play in August & finished the season with 12 wins (7th most wins in Western Conference) & 17 losses (4th most losses in Western Conference).

The biggest question for Real Salt Lake entering 2026 is: What will they look like? How will the club look to continue to build on the roster after their extremely busy summer transfer window with very little room to make changes?

In the offseason guide:

The Positives

Diego Luna is Diego Luna. The 22-year-old USMNT midfielder had 9 goals & 7 assists (16 goal contributions) this season for Real Salt Lake. The past 12 months for Luna have been astonishing to watch and see him grow into one of the most entertaining “prospects” within the league. It will be imperative for RSL to surround Luna with exciting pieces so that this franchise can grow for the future.

This club had FIFTEEN different goal scorers, with SEVEN scoring more than one goal. If this group can add the consistency factor & can bag more goals, then this team will be smooth sailing into this offseason.

Defensively, the team allowed 1 goal more than last season. That’s pretty good, considering they finished 6 places lower than in 2024.

If this group can keep their core & build upon the consistency, they’ll be fine.

In terms of the front office side, in October, the club announced that they had hired Jason Kreis as the club’s first ever President of soccer operations & announced that they have given contract extensions to Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni, Sporting Director Kurt Schmid and Assistant Sporting Director Tony Beltran. These are all tremendous decisions.

Kreis returned to Utah in December 2023, as the Club’s Director of Club Operations & Special Projects. In that role, Kreis integrated and streamlined numerous business and community initiatives, while utilizing his nearly 30 years of expertise as a Major League Soccer player and coach.

In the five seasons played under Sporting Director Kurt Schmid & Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni’s guidance (2021-present), RSL has advanced to both the 2021 Western Conference Final at Portland and the 2023 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Semifinal at Houston. Mastroeni is the sixth-ever MLS head coach (out of 205) to advance his Club to the postseason in each of the first five seasons.

Additionally, Tony Beltran (who has been in RSL’s front office since 2019) has been promoted to assistant sporting director. He'll continue to report to Schmid and has additional first-team duties.

The Negatives

What initially looked like a positive signing in August of 2025, Designated Player Rwan Cruz struggled. The DP forward was signed on loan from Botafogo through June 2026 with a purchase option for $5,000,000. He was poised to make an instant impact, however, in his 11 games this season, Cruz had 642 minutes played with ZERO goals & 1 assist.

It is imperative that this team finds a way to get attacking players to fit around Diego Luna & unlock more goals to improve upon their season. 

The squad scored 27 less goals in comparison to 2024. That’s not good. This club has struggled to find their Cristian “Chico” Arango / Andrés Gómez replacement from 2024, however, the hope is that Rwan Cruz can be that player for this club.

Roster Flexibility

Real Salt Lake has barely any roster flexibility. At the moment, the club has two designated players (Rwan Cruz & Diogo Gonçalves) and four U-22 initiative signings (Diego Luna, Dominik Marczuk, Nelson Palacio, & Ariath Piol). 

This club is currently in the 2DP and 4 U-22s model, which includes up to $2 million in GAM.

The club announced their end-of-season roster update, where they announced most contract option decisions. The club is entering the 2026 season with 28 players rostered. 

Offseason Priorities

Attempt to sign a free agent forward that can provide depth to compliment Diego Luna, Dominik Marczuk, Diogo Gonçalves & Ariath Piol.

The club is in talks with defenders Javain Brown, Koby Henry, & Sam Junqua over returns to the club. It’ll be important for Real Salt Lake to retain as much as their defense as they can, as they did allow just 1 goal more than last season. Defensively, the group was sound & it’d be important to keep your core together.

This is a playoff team. The hope is that your two DP forwards & U22 players gain some comfortability in the league, & hope that the group can remain healthy & get RSL back to the MLS Cup Playoffs.

Again, this should be a playoff team.