The MLS offseason is in full swing with end-of-year roster decisions being made while we're in the middle of the playoffs.
Here's a summary of all the important financial dates on the horizon:
November 26th: Deadline for Clubs to Exercise Options, excluding clubs in 2025 MLS Cup
December 7th: Deadline for Clubs to Exercise Options who were in the 2025 MLS Cup
December 10th-13th: MLS College Showcase
Mesa, Arizona; closed event that gives technical staffs the opportunity to view collegiate prospects
December 10th: Free Agency Opens (1pm ET)
Clubs are allowed to negotiate with players from other clubs that are eligible for Free Agency which include players out-of-contract and option-declined players who are at least 24 years old and have completed a minimum of four years of service.
December 11th: Re-Entry Process, Stage 1 (1pm ET)
Re-Entry Process run in reverse standings order and includes postseason performance
Eligible players who are at least 22 years old, have a minimum of one year of service and who are not eligible for Free Agency
Out-of-contract players with Bona Fide Offers from their club are not eligible
Eligible players list will be released on December 9th
The Dallas Stars did right by their 2019 1st round pick, extending defenseman Thomas Harley to an 8 year, $84.7M contract. The deal which begins in 2026 running through the 2033-34 season, contains a $10.58M annual cap hit: 17th most in the NHL and 4th among defensemen.
Harley will see $16M of the deal paid out in signing bonus, and will earn $35M in the first three years of the contract - including $13M in 2026-27. The 24-year-old secures a full no movement clause in the final 5 seasons of the deal.
The Utah Mammoth agreed to terms with C Logan Cooley on an 8 year, $80 million contract extension. The deal begins in 2026, running through the 2033-34 season. His $10M cap hit is a team high for Utah, and is tied for 20th in the league next year.
The deal is slightly front-loaded for Cooley, as the 21-year-old will earn $13M next season, $11M each of 2027-2027, and $10M for the 2029-30 campaign. He secures a 16-team no trade clause in each of the final four years on the contract and will be just 29 when the deal expires.
The Detroit Lions continued their draft, develop, extend, contend process, handing DE Aidan Hutchinson a 4 year, $180M contract extension. The 2022 #2 overall pick secured $141M practically guaranteed on the deal, including $56M fully guaranteed at signing through 2027.
Hutchinson is currently playing out the 4th year on his rookie contract and had already been guaranteed a $19.782M 5th-year option salary for 2026. The 25-year-old is now on the books for the next 5 1/2 years at $205.4M total value. He garners a $20M raise in 2025, a $10M raise in 2026, and should see over $80M by the end of the 2027 campaign. For practical purposes (based on early vesting guarantee structure) this is a 5 year, $160.5M contract through the 2029 season.
If all goes well, Hutchinson should be in discussion for his 3rd contract well before he turns 30 years old in the 2030 season.
After what seemed to be a positive year for CF Montréal in 2024, the expectation was for the club to build on their MLS playoff appearance last season, however, they started the season flat.
Head Coach Laurent Courtois was fired after five games & Assistant Coach Marco Donadel was named the interim head coach in March.
It took Montréal 13 games to see their first win. They were put into a hole that was very difficult to climb out of & they had no chance of recovery.
This squad ranked 24th in expected goals scored & 19th in expected goals against. Just across the board not good enough.
With the winter approaching & their roster decisions published, Montréal will have a lot of roster flexibility. In the offseason guide:
The Positives
Prince Owusu was a fantastic acquisition from Toronto FC in January. For just $225,000, the club signed Owusu to a two-year contract with an option for a third year & the forward did not disappoint. With 18 goal contributions (13 goals & 5 assists), Owusu was essentially Montréal’s entire attack.
With Prince Owusu & Dante Sealy (11 goal contributions – 9 goals & 2 assists) running their attack, Montréal had a lot of positives in their attack.
With Donadel at the helm, it will be imperative to surround the forward pairing with players that will look to feed the hungry forwards.
This group is entering the offseason with 24 players rostered & have the ability to monumentally update the roster.
With the forward frame work of Prince Owusu, Dante Sealy, Pavel Bucha, Kwadwo Opoku along with young upcoming talents such as Hennadiy Synchuk, Jalen Neal, & Olger Escobar, the group has a lot of positives and can only build positively.
The Negatives
Other than Owusu & Sealy, this team struggled to score goals. The club picked up Giacomo Vrioni from New England Revolution for only $50,000 in an attempt to re-ignite a fire underneath the DP forward that scored 20 goals in the Austrian topflight just three years ago, however, Vrioni struggled yet again. With only 3 goals in MLS this season, it was no shock that his option was not exercised at the end of the season.
Montréal interestingly improved defensively as they allowed 4 less goals [in comparison to last season], however, the defense still needs a lot of work.
My biggest concern for this team is their midfield & backline.
Roster Flexibility
CF Montréal enters this offseason with good flexibility. At the moment, the club has one designated player (Ivan Jaime – who is currently on loan from FC Porto) and have 2 U-22 initiative signings (Jalen Neal & Hennadii Synchuk). This club can decide whether or not it wants to enter the 3DP, 3U22 player model or enter the 2DP and 4 U-22s model, which includes up to $2 million in GAM, pending which route they go.
The club announced their end-of-season roster update, where they announced most contract option decisions. The club is entering the 2026 season with 24 players rostered.
This leaves Luca & Simone Saputo along with Gabriel Gervais to enter this offseason directly with Marco Donadel to improve the roster. This roster doesn’t need a lot of tweaks, however, they do need to make a handful of improvements if they wish to return to the MLS Cup Playoffs. This team is nowhere near close to contending for a trophy, however, they can start the process to move this team back to the playoffs as long as they find assets to grow this young team.
Offseason Priorities
Montréal should enter the 3DP & 3U22 model and look to sign two designated players.
If the group can go out and acquire two more DP midfielders [to pair with Ivan Jaime), a solid winger [to pair with Prince Owusu & Dante Sealy], & a solid center back [to pair with Jalen Neal], this team could very easily be back in the playoffs.
More help in the midfield & backline is my biggest concern for this group.
After the regular season wraps up this Sunday, the end-of-season awards season will be fully ramping up. Based on previous years, Monday after the final regular season is completed the preliminary round of voting opens up. There are seven individual awards up for grabs as well as a spot on the Best XI or second Best XI.
Voting Process
In the preliminary round, voting weights breakdown to Players (50%), Boards/GM's/Head Coaches (25%), and Media (25%). After a week of voting, the placings will decide who is in the final round of voting—which will begin shortly after finalists are announced.
The final round of voting uses a weighted scale of players (40%), owners/GMs/coaches (25%), media (25%) and fans (10%). The award winners will be announced Wednesday November 19th as a part of the build into the NWSL Championship on November 22nd.
Reminder: Under the new CBA, all end-of-season competition bonuses will double their current rate of $5,000 to $10,000 in 2027 for Best XI, Rookie of the Year, Midfielder of the Year, Defender of the Year, Goalkeeper of the Year and the NWSL’s Golden Boot. The NWSL MVP award will be quadrupling up to $20,000
In the preliminary round, voters get to vote for multiple players, so for the seven individual awards, below is my take the frontrunners
Monthly Award Winners
Golden Boot Winner: ???
NWSL Regular Season Top Goalscorers List
This is the one award that isn’t voted on, it is awarded to the NWSL’s top goalscorer. Right now, Temwa Chawinga looks like she’ll be earning the award for the second year running, while Esther with a hattrick could ruin it for Chawinga—especially after Chawinga was carried off the pitch by teammates in the first half of the Current's match against Houston and then announced on social media that she’d be missing national team duty due to an adductor injury.
Seven of the 11 seasons in the NWSL the Golden Boot winner has also been the MVP and of the remaining four, two were forwards, and two were attacking midfielders from which we can glean that historically MVP has come down to offensive impact. Along those lines, Temwa Chawinga is leading the Golden Boot race with 15 goals and has an additional 3 assists. Unsurprisingly, Chawinga leads a bunch of the NWSL offensive stat categories, but perhaps my favorite is that with almost 50% fewer shots than 2024, she’s scored only 5 goals less, reducing her 5.3 shots/goal in 2024 to 3.9 shots/goal in 2025.
The 21-year old Japanese international had a breakout year with the Courage, currently ranking 3rd in the Golden Boot race with 10 goals (all non-penalty), 9th in assists with 4, and 2nd in Goals + Assists across the league. She is also 3rd in shots on target (30), 1st in goal creating actions (12), 5th in shot creating action (79), and 4th in fouls drawn (42).
Honorable Mentions : Olivia Moultrie, Taylor Flint
Rodriguez is T-1st in assists with 6 and scored the game-winning goal against North Carolina back in August. She leads the defenders of the league in chances created with 38, is 1st in the league in crosses (143), 7th in assists/90 (0.27), and 6th in goal creating actions with 9. She also had 32 interceptions, 22 tackles won, and 62 clearances
This is perhaps the most straightforward award to choose with Lorena having an absolutely incredible season with Kansas City which includes 14 clean sheets and only 12 goals conceded in 23 matches. She has the highest save percentage in the league at 83.3% and has a 100% save percentage on shots outside the box.
This one was much closer than I thought it would be after the first couple of months of the season, but Schupansky has played in 23 of Gotham’s 25 matches and is T-3rd in assists with 5, 1st in the league in assists/90 with 0.35. She is also 5th in crosses with 104, 7th in fouls drawn with 39, and sixth in successful take-on % with 69.2.
Honorable mentions : Riley Tiernan, Pietra Tordin
Coach of the Year: Laura Harvey
It would be easy to pick Vlatko Andonovski for his third NWSL Coach of the Year award considering Kansas City’s record breaking season, but consider the fact that the Current ended the 2024 regular season in fourth and had the core of the squad returning in 2025. To me, more impressive is Laura Harvey turning Seattle’s ship around after finishing 2024 in 13th place, and now heading into the final weekend of the 2025 regular season in 4th place with a playoff spot clinched. This was done with 22 players of the 2024 end of season roster currently rostered.
After a positive transitional year for Toronto FC in 2024, you would’ve expected them to continue their climb out of the deep hole they found themselves in & build upon the 2025 campaign, however, from the beginning, their problems re-arose, and they never recovered. For the fifth consecutive season, soccer in Toronto ended without a playoff berth once again.
Robin Fraser took over as head coach in early January of 2025 while this front office looked to continue to work under their constraints, add key pieces, and continue to overhaul this roster.
This wasn’t a surprise for this Toronto FC side as everybody knew that it was always going to take multiple years. They’ve remained consistent in their process and have continued to improve and it shows that they’ve used the 2025 season to be another bridge year so that the club can return to being a successful MLS club.
With the winter approaching & roster decisions published, Toronto will have greater roster flexibility than recent years, In the offseason guide:
The Positives
First thing first, exercising both of their buyouts midseason on Lorenzo Insigne & Federico Bernardeschi was excellent. These moves should’ve been done long ago & definitely defined this transitional era of the club.
Toronto went out and made a bold move by acquiring Djorde Mihailovic as their guy in an $8,000,000 cash trade in August. This is probably their best move that the club has made in the last three seasons. Acquiring the playmaker that contributed 4 goals & 4 assists in 10 games (13 goals & 11 assists in 34 games across TOR & COL) is the perfect replacement to fill the void left behind by Federico Bernardeschi. With Jonathan Osorio (4 goals & 3 assists) in the midfield with Mihailovic along with Theo Corbeanu (6 goals & 2 assists), It’s now up to head coach Robin Fraser to surround them with positive players.,
Fraser had the team very competitive for most of the season despite it being yet another transitional year as the club continued to overhaul from the previous era. 6 wins & 14 draws in a season is honestly not awful. If they turned 7-8 of those draws into wins, they’d be a playoff team.
Additionally, this group is entering the offseason with the likes of José Cifuentes, Deandre Kerr, Jules Anthony-Vilsaint, Richie Laryea, & also have Henry Wingo returning from injury.
Though record wise, they didn’t improve, they were significantly better defensively as they allowed 15 less goals than last season.
The Negatives
This team struggled to find the net. With 7 less goals scored than last season, the club is in desperate need of a forward.
This isn’t a shocking realization as Toronto hasn’t had a consistent center forward since Jozy Altidore was their target man.
In terms of their defense, it has improved but still needs a lot more work.
My biggest concern for this team is easily the striker, center back, & goalkeeper position.
Roster Flexibility
Toronto FC has a lot of flexibility. At the moment, the club has one designated player (Djorde Mihailovic) and one U-22 initiative signing (Cassius Mailula – currently on loan at KV Kortrijk). This club can decide whether or not it wants to enter the 3DP, 3U22 player model or enter the 2DP and 4 U-22s model, which includes up to $2 million in GAM, pending which route they go.
The club announced their end-of-season roster update, where they announced most contract option decisions. The club is entering the 2026 season with 21 players rostered.
This leaves another year for GM Jason Hernandez and his staff to continue to over turn the roster and regenerate their assets. Argumentatively, this winter will be the most exciting for this Toronto FC side to determine which direction Robin Fraser takes this team in. As long as they recruit the correct assets, this team has a handful of pieces to build around. There will be a lot more flexibility and it will be exciting to monitor.
Offseason Priorities
TFC needs to sign a DP & determine which roster model they are going to pivot to.
If the group can go out and acquire a DP forward & DP centerback, this team could very easily be a playoff team. It will be very interesting to monitor how they attack the free agent market & to see whether or not they bring back Sean Johnson after declining his option.
A center forward (should be a DP), a centerback, a goalkeeper, midfielder depth, and more defensive help.
The MLB offseason calendar starts based on the final game of the World Series, which concludes on Saturday, November 1st. Here's a summary of all the relevant financial dates on the horizon:
Exclusive negotiation period starts - Eligible players officially become free agents (9am ET) but can only negotiate and re-sign with their former club
Deadline for clubs to extend qualifying offer (5pm ET)
Exclusive negotiation period ends / free agency starts (5pm ET)
NL Silver Slugger Award winners announced
November 7th: Platinum Glove; AL Sliver Slugger Award winners announced November 10th: Rookie of the Year Award winners announced November 11th: Manager of the Year Award winners announced November 12th: Cy Young Award winners announced November 13th: MVP; All-MLB; Hank Aaron Award; Comeback Player OTY; Reliever OTY; Outstanding DH; Executive OTY winners announced
November 16th (15th day after World Series): Deadline for players to accept qualifying offer (4pm ET)
November 18th: Rule 5 Draft protection deadline (4pm ET) - Eligible players are protected if added to the 40-man roster
November 10th - 13th: General Manager Meetings (Las Vegas, NV)
November 21st: Non-tender deadline for players under club control
December (TBD): International posting period starts for eligible players from Japan (NPB), South Korea (KBO) and Taiwan (CPBL)
December 7th - 10th: Winter Meetings (Orlando, FL)
The term “contract year” tends to get thrown around a bit loosely. It often gets applied to any player on an expiring contract. It’s actually quite a bit more complex than that. Sometimes it’s a player playing for an extension. Sometimes there are cap-related reasons a player hasn’t been signed, but we all know a new deal is coming. Sometimes it is just as it’s commonly meant: players are unsigned beyond this year and looking to cash in on their next contract.
Today, we’re going to look at five groups of players who are playing for their next contract right now. Whether that be via an extension or a new deal, these 12 players are looking to get paid.
Yes, unextendibles isn’t really a word. You’re going to have to grant us some language leeway, because it perfectly describes Austin Reaves and Coby White.
When Reaves and White signed their current contracts, many (this space included) lauded their teams for getting them on such good-value (read: team-friendly) deals. And that’s true. Both Reaves and White have vastly outplayed their current contracts. That’s awesome for the Lakers and Bulls…unless we’re talking extensions.
Even with the improved veteran extension rules allowing teams to sign players for up 140% of their current salary or 140% of the Estimate Average Player Salary, that’s not enough to get Reaves or White to extend. For both players, that would put them in the range of four-year, $87 million contracts. Roughly $22 million AAV is a nice amount, but it’s one that both Reaves and White will easily top as unrestricted free agents this summer.
That’s where things get a little scary for the Lakers and Bulls. Neither Reaves or White has professed any desired to leave the only NBA homes they’ve known. Both Los Angeles and Chicago can pay their free agent guards more than anyone else. But anytime a player is an unrestricted free agent, and there are teams with cap space and needs at that player’s position, it’s a nervous time.
That means that Reaves and White are both looking at putting together big seasons for big paydays, either with their incumbent teams or elsewhere. Reaves is off to an amazing start, while White’s season has been delayed by a calf injury. But combo guards who can play on- and off-ball as primary or secondary creators are in huge demand right now. That means Reaves and White are in line for near-max, if not max, contracts this coming summer.
This projects to be a fairly weak free agent class again. Unless LeBron James really hits the open market, Trae Young will be the best free agent available. He’s entering his prime years. Young is productive. He has star power, as he plays a fun and entertaining style. Young even improved as a more competitive defender over the last season or so.
So, why is he hitting free agency instead of extending?
The Hawks and Young faced a “deadline” of a week ago to reach an agreement on an extension. Why was it a “deadline”? Because Young has a player option for 2026-27, he could opt out, which would then make him eligible to extend through June 30. So, there’s still some time here for Atlanta and Young to reach agreement on a new deal.
The challenge is that the Hawks have made big roster changes entering this season. They’ve also committed long-term money to Jalen Johnson, Dyson Daniels, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Onyeka Okongwu over the last few years. All of those players are on value contracts, which should leave room for Young on a max deal. But maxing out Young will make things tight for the Hawks against the tax, and possibly even the aprons.
With Kristaps Porzingis (more on him later) looking at a new deal too, Atlanta is being a bit cautious with their purse strings. Young presumably wants a maximum contract. The Hawks want to see how he looks with a healthy, rebuilt roster.
Neither Young nor the Hawks are wrong in their desires. The challenge is that if Young hits free agency, there are several teams without a point guard, never mind a superstar point guard, who have cap space this summer. The Hawks may be looking at a max contract to keep Young in Atlanta, whether they give it via an extension or on a new deal in free agency.
One last wrinkle: If the Hawks are forced to give Young a max deal because other teams are offering the same, there’s something else the star guard could agitate for in a new deal: A no-trade clause. Having eight years of service, all of them with Atlanta, makes Young eligible for an NTC. (Note: Young can’t get an NTC via an extension. It can only come for him via a new contract.)
Yes, NTCs are rare. Only LeBron James and Damian Lillard have negotiated NTCs in their deals. Could Young push for one as the item that pushes re-signing with the Hawks over the top? Something to keep an eye on.
Restricted free agency was really hard on players this past offseason. Josh Giddey, Quentin Grimes, Jonathan Kuminga and Cam Thomas all watched their free agency take until deep into the offseason to resolve. Giddey got a long-term deal, but Kuminga signed a contract with the Warriors holding team control. Grimes and Thomas (more on them later) had to settle for signing their qualifying offers.
Why will next summer be any different for the next crop of restricted free agents?
There are teams with cap space next summer. This past offseason, the Brooklyn Nets were the only real cap space team. Both the Memphis Grizzlies and Milwaukee Bucks cleared cap space for specific targets.
Next summer, at least five or six teams should have meaningful cap space. For Jalen Duren and Walker Kessler, a handful of those teams haven’t found their long-term starting center yet. Tari Eason is a plug-and-play rotation forward that fits anywhere.
Bennedict Mathurin and Jaden Ivey are a bit more complicated. Both are seen as score-first guards, not unlike Thomas and Grimes. They both also have big opportunities (when they get healthy) to play roles on teams that have playoff goals. If Mathurin and Ivey can prove they can do more, while being efficient and driving winning, their next contracts will go way, way up in value.
All five of these players are going to be restricted free agents. The big question: Will one of the cap space teams want to make their current teams sweat out an offer sheet? Or do their current teams try to get ahead of it by moving the restricted free agency issues to another team via an in-season trade?
These big men are in similar spots, despite being very different players on offense. Kristaps Porzingis is one of the elite stretch-bigs in the league while solid working against mismatches, while Mitchell Robinson is an elite lob threat, and one of the best offensive rebounders in the league. On defense both are terrific rim protectors, and solid on the glass.
Unfortunately, they also have a shared long injury history. And both play for teams that have large amounts of guaranteed salary committed already, with other contract situations looming.
If the Hawks or Knicks could trust that Porzingis or Robinson would stay healthy and play in 65-70 games, extensions would probably already be done. But given that the Knicks are dancing around the second apron, with a new deal for Karl-Anthony Towns due soon, they aren’t locking into a new deal for Robinson right now.
The Hawks are less expensive than the Knicks, but they aren’t historically a team that will go deep into the tax like New York is. And they’ve got Trae Young due for a new contract, as we covered above.
Porzingis and Robinson will both be productive when they’re healthy. We know this from their history. If they could make it through this season healthy, that would go a long way towards earning them a new, big deal.
One more note: Because Porzingis and Robinson are on expiring deals, they are both extension-eligible through June 30. If things are going great when we get near the end of the season, it wouldn’t be a surprise to still see an extension get done before free agency opens.
Normally, we’d say these guys “bet on themselves” by signing their qualifying offers. Given the current environment, we’re going with these guys believe in themselves!
Grimes and Thomas both wanted long-term deals from the Sixers and Nets, respectively. They both got offers, but neither was anywhere close to a value commensurate with the Grimes’ and Thomas’ abilities.
The 76ers have some luxury tax and apron issues that they have to be cautious of moving forward. They’ve also got a deep guard group, as Tyrese Maxey is an established All-Star-level player, and V.J. Edgecombe and Jared McCain are exciting young players. Those factors left Grimes with an offer that didn’t even reach the equivalent of the Non-Taxpayer MLE amount.
Thomas was in an even rougher spot. His offers were limited to two-year deals worth roughly the NTMLE amount, but the second season would have included a team option. That’s great for the Nets roster flexibility, who have drafted several young guards, but it’s not so great for Thomas.
That leaves both Grimes and Thomas proving they can be more than just score-first guards piling up points on bad teams. Showing a more well-rounded game, and an ability to play off-ball more, will help both veteran guards lift their value going into the offseason. It still feels like their futures may lie outside Philadelphia and Brooklyn, possibly even by a trade.
One last note when it comes to trades for Grimes and Thomas: Because both signed their qualifying offers, they have no-trade clauses for this year, because they lose their Bird rights if they get traded. That could impact the acquiring team’s ability to re-sign either player. That makes things a bit tricky for them on the trade market. But if things hit a point where they prefer a fresh start, Grimes or Thomas could approve a trade to a new destination.
The last time the Brewers won 97 games in a regular season was - never. Milwaukee had an historic season shattered with a 4-0 sweep by the Dodgers in the NLCS, but it must still be considered a largely successful (somewhat shocking) 2025 campaign. Furthermore, most of the leading contributors from the year are cost-controlled for multiple years to come.
A Bright Spot 2B Brice Turang continued his fast early career rise, posting career highs across the board, including an OPS near .800 and a 5.4 WAR. The 25-year-old is team controlled through 2029.
A Big Concern Can Milwaukee continue their recent success in selling high on starting pitching and replacing with drafted & developed talent? Freddy Peralta (5.63 WAR) is entering a contract year, carrying an extremely friendly $8M club option in 2026. He’ll be seeking a new contract, but there will be plenty of interest on the trade market if Milwaukee entertains it.
Peralta’s option should be attractive to inquiring teams (or the Brewers). Contreras has arbitration eligibility remaining through 2027 so the Brewers could decline this option and go through that process, but the $12M price tag is pretty close to his calculated value right now. All of the mutual options are likely to be declined.
Vaughn (acquired from Chicago at the deadline) might be one of the weaker links in this Brewers lineup. His final run through arbitration won’t break the bank, but it still might be a question mark for Milwaukee.
Chourio has posted almost identical back-to-back first two full seasons in Milwaukee, who will be looking for an even bigger breakout campaign in 2026. The 22-year-old is signed for another 8 years, $122M through 2033.
The Brewers carried a $145M CBT payroll in 2025 according to our data, 20th in MLB. Their current 36-man roster for 2026 projects toward a $93M figure, $151M under the threshold, 24th in the league.
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