Löffelsend Trade Official and New Homegrown

Today the Rapids announced the reported trade for Jasper Löffelsend.  The trade was as reported, an international slot and a draft pick, with up to $100K in GAM in performance triggers.  A nice little addition, Löffelsend is currently back in Germany finalizing his green card so he won't need an international slot.

Colorado also announced the signing of Rapids 2 GK Adam Beaudry to a homegrown contract for the next 4 seasons, with team options for 2028 and 2029.  Beaudry has long been talked about as the next big homegrown signing and will apprentice under Steffen for the next couple of years.  Having the two of them under long-term contracts will give us coverage if one of them makes the jump to Europe.

That's the last of the significant rumors covered.  While we could still be working on other deals I think we have a decent idea of the roster that will open camp this weekend (players report on Saturday).  Here's the breakdown of the players under contract, followed by our list of draftees. We currently have 27 players under contract and 5 other draftees:

(You'll notice I'm not marking internationals. That's too hard to track this early in the off-season with the green card process going on)

Goalkeepers:

Adam Beaudry - Homegrown

Marko Ilic

Zack Steffen

Defenders:

Lalas Abubakar

Seb Anderson - Homegrown

Moise Bombito - Generation Adidas

Michael Edwards - Homegrown

Alex Gersbach

Aboubacar Keita - Homegrown

Andreas Maxsø

Miguel Navarro

Keegan Rosenberry

Midfielders:

Cole Bassett - Homegrown

Omir Fernandez - Homegrown

Braian Galvan

Oli Larraz - Homegrown

Jasper Löffelsend

Djordje Mihailovic - Desingated Player

Ralph Priso - Homegrown

Connor Ronan

Sidnei Tavares

Forwards:

Kevin Cabral - Designated Player

Calvin Harris - Generation Adidas

Jonathan Lewis

Rafael Navarro - Designated Player

Kimani Stewart-Baynes - Generation Adidas

Darren Yapi - Homegrown

Draftees:

D Nate Jones

D Anderson Ross

M Wayne Fredrick

F Palmer Ault

F Gunnar Studenhofft

Goal Bassett re-signed, and a trade with FSL?

As mentioned yesterday Bassett has signed a new 4-year deal through the 2027 season.  Its essentially a 3-year extension on his current contract that would have run out after the 2024 season, but now he'll play this year at his new contract level.  

As Burgundy Wave first reported, this contract will be a U-22 Initiative contract.. Being signed under that program is unusual, as only players who do not turn 23 or older in the calendar year can sign such a contract (Bassett turns 23 this year) and only new players to the league or homegrown players signing their first or second contract are eligible (this is Bassett's third contract).  Somehow, the rules are being changed and that means Bassett's salary cap hit will be at a reduced number at $200K rather than his actual contract, which is a nice perk.

This is an obvious and great move for the Rapids.  Bassett has the longest tenure on the team, being the only player who played in 2018 left on the roster, and despite that he's still only 22 right now (Rosenberry, Abubakar, and Anderson would join the squad in 2019)..  While I'm sure he still wants another European shot, this way he has some safety and we have the ability to get a return on him if he moves.  If he doesn't move and becomes a lifetime MLSer then he has a chance to break a number of team records.  Win-win all the way around.

Matt Pollard at Burgundy Wave is also reporting that Colorado has traded for Jasper Löffelsend from FSL for an international slot this year and a 2nd round pic in next year's draft.  Incentives could have up to $100K of GAM going to the dark place as well.  This is the second time I've heard this about Löffelsend in the last week so where there's smoke there's fire.  Löffelsend is a German defensive mid who came here for college at Pitt and was drafted in 2022 by FSL.  He does require an international slot then.  He's had 51 appearances over two seasons with 34 starts.  He's buried on the depth chart and there are some who think he's a legitimate starting 6 in MLS.  I'm not sold on him at that level yet, my hope is that this is a depth move and we still plan to go get a starting 6.

Once this move appears, or doesn't, or we get to Friday I'll break down our current roster before players report this weekend.