Is That Ricky Williams' Music I Hear?

 

In 1999 New Orleans Saints coach Mike Ditka thought running back Ricky Williams was such a sure bet that he traded every pick he had in the draft and two of their top three picks in the 2000 draft to move up to #5 and pick Williams.  Well today Philly said "Hold my beer".  But we'll get to that in a second.

With the half-day open trade window before the various drafts this week the Rapids made a move they've already announced before we get to the Philly trade.  They sent $1 million in GAM to FC Cincinnati in exchange for center backs Chidozie Awaziem and Ian Murphy.  FCC could get up to $200K more in GAM based on performance and retains a percentage of any sale outside the league.

Awaziem is a clear CB starter and should fill the hole next to Maxso.  He's a 27 year old (28 on New Year's Day) Nigerian who was signed by FCC in midseason, mainly as an injury replacement for Miazga.  Now that he's coming back FCC needed to make roster and cap room to bring him off IR.  Prior to coming to MLS he played for Portuguese sides Boavista and Porto, though he spent most of his time in the country on loan to other teams in France, Spain, Turkey, and Croatia.  He did appear 42 times for Boavista and he's been capped 33 times by Nigeria since 2017.

Murphy was drafted by FCC out of Duke before the 2022 season and over his 3 years there he made 80 appearances.  He also played for the U.S. U14s, 15s, and 17s.  He moved back and forth between a regular starter and a bench player and will likely take the Abubakar role of being the first option off the bench of Macso ot Awaziem aren't available.  This should allow Maxso to actually get some minutes off and not be an ironman like he was in 2024.

This trade immediately fills two of the needs I identified last week and probably means Abubakar won't return.  There may not be a spot for Edwards either.  Now the focus shifts to winger, a 6, and a backup striker.

Later today Tom Bogert, the Denver Post, and Burgundy Wave all confirmed the details of a trade the likes of which MLS has never seen before.  Colorado is sending $350K in GAM + up to $250K additional based on performance metrics to Philadelphia.  In exchange Philly is sending us every one of their draft picks, for the next 3 seasons.

for a further three years

That's the 8th (1st round) and 68th (3rd round) pick in the draft at the end of next week.  We already have their 2nd round pick from the Semmle deal.  We also get all 3 of their natural picks in the 2026 and 2027 drafts.  (Despite taking place in Dec. of 2024, next week's draft is the 2025 draft).

Not surprisingly there's been a lot of talk about this trade today in MLS circles.  This isn't the first time Philly has bailed on the draft but it is the first time they've bailed on 3 in a row.  They have a lot of faith in their Academy and they don't want to block players moving up with a bunch of college players.

From Colorado's standpoint they only need to hit on 2 players becoming MLS quality to come out ahead.  Last year they got Kimani Stewart-Baynes, who's already spent time with the Canadian Nats.  In 2023 it was Moise Bombito of course.  Before that it was Anthony Markanich in 2022.  So that's 3 MLS players in 3 drafts.  In 2019 they got Newcomer of the Year Andre Shinyashiki.  In 2015 it was Axel Sjoberg and Dominque Badji.  That's 6 MLS players in 10 drafts.  So getting 2 in 3 is certainly doable.  And if they land on a Badji or if we're lucky a Bombito then they come out ahead with only one pick.  The trades of Shinyashiki and Markanich alone almost got as much GAM as we gave up today.

One notable thing is that Chris Zitterbart, Philly's Director of Scouting, was signed by Philly from Colorado in June.  So I have to wonder how involved he was in draft scouting in Colorado vs. Philly.  Is it possible that after the success he had here he doesn't see that level of talent in upcoming drafts?  Or was he responsible for international scouting here and didn't have much influence on our draft strategy?  Or is it just the case that its two different clubs with two different ways of building?

Regardless, what this tells us is that we're going to be prioritizing the draft as our acquisition strategy over the next couple of offseasons.  That could mean stocking up on young talent, but it could also mean using those picks as trade bait for other moves.  I would expect us to be busy next week as we have 3 first round and 3 third round picks, along with Philly's 2nd round pick (we traded our 2nd round pick to FSL for Lofflesend).

Next up is the CONCACAF Champions Cup draw tomorrow at 5pm.  We are the best team in Pot 2 sadly, which means we will face either a Liga MX or another MLS team in the first round.  The options are Monterrey, Tigres, Cruz Azul, Pumas, Chivas, LAFC, Miami, Seattle, Cinci, Vancouver...or FSL.  I'm rooting for Miami as it would be the only chance to see Messi at the Dick (though he'd proibably use the cold as an excuse not to come).