There’s a legitimate argument that this past offseason was the biggest in MLS history – remember, Lionel Messi and David Beckham both arrived midseason. With money being injected into the ecosystem with new rules like the cash-for-player trades and changes to the General Allocation Money system, teams have more autonomy with their roster builds than ever before.
On Thursday morning, MLS released the spring edition of the league’s 2025 roster profiles, providing key insights into those roster builds for all 30 teams.
We now know which players are occupying Designated Player and U22 Initiative spots, each club’s chosen roster building model, contract years, international slots, and more.
Here are the biggest takeaways from the roster profiles.
Roster construction flexibility on display
Last season, MLS introduced a rule that allows teams to choose between two different roster construction models, both with six prime roster spots. The first option is the Designated Player Model, where teams can sign up to three DPs and up to three U22 Initiative players, while the second allows teams to sign up to two DPs and up to four U22 Initiative players, while receiving an added $2 million in GAM to extend their salary budget.
