The Major League Soccer Players Association released its final updated report of players’ salaries for the 2023 MLS season following their mid-season release in May. The current state of the Columbus Crew looks much different from the May release, with four high-dollar departures, four high-dollar acquisitions and a significant raise that was not reported in May.

As always, it’s important to remember that these salaries might not be 100 percent accurate. The base salary number represents the player’s yearly contract, while the guaranteed compensation reflects an average of bonuses possible throughout the life of the contract. So, the numbers present in this salary don’t necessarily reflect the actual salary cap hit or Designated Player (DP)/Targeted Allocation Money (TAM) qualifications of the players and also do not include transfer fees (which are taken into account for MLS salary cap compliance).

Before we dive in, here is a look at the current state of Columbus’ salary spend. New acquisitions are in bold and players with raises are bolded and italicized.

First for the departures. A few months after the May release, in July, the Black & Gold reached an agreement with MLS Cup-winning goalkeeper Eloy Room to mutually terminate the contract. At the time of his release, Room was the second highest-paid goalkeeper in MLS with a base pay of $815,000 and a total compensation of $898,000. A DP-level contract isn’t a great use of funds for a goalkeeper, let alone one who was no longer the everyday starter. Mutually terminating Room’s contract immediately opened up those funds for use in the 2023 season.

Center back Milos Degenek became the next departure just a week later, transferring from Columbus back to Red Star Belgrade. Degenek’s base pay at the time of his transfer was $725,000 and his total compensation was $823,500. Another week later, the Crew transferred out star player Lucas Zelarayan to Al-Fateh of the Saudi Pro League. Zelarayan was the 2020 MLS Cup MVP and was the highest-paid player on the Black & Gold’s roster, with a base pay of $3.2 million and a total compensation of $3.8 million. Neither transfer fee was disclosed.

The final departure of the 2023 season was winger Luis Diaz. Diaz found ample playing time during the Caleb Porter era, reaching his peak with two assists in the 2020 MLS Cup, but never fit in as a wing back in head coach Wilfried Nancy’s system. When he was waived from the roster, Diaz earned $500,000 in base compensation and $533,900 in total compensation.

These four departures freed up $5.24 million in base pay and $6.06 million in total compensation. Not all of this salary could be utilized in the 2023 season, and this total does not include any of the Degenek or Zelarayan fees that were converted into General Allocation Money (GAM), but moving off of these salaries gave the team flexibility to continue the rebuild in full-force.

The first acquisition in that rebuild was center back Yevgen Cheberko. Cheberko joined during the summer transfer window for an undisclosed fee and earns $370,000 in base pay and $418,250 in total compensation. The next two additions came via trade during the summer transfer window. First, right wing back Julian Gressel was acquired via a trade with the Vancouver Whitecaps for up to $850,000 in GAM. Gressel earns $884,000 in base compensation and $930,406 in total compensation. He will be a free agent after the 2023 season. Center back Rudy Camacho was acquired via a trade with CF Montreal for $400,000 GAM split between 2023 and 2024, on the same day Zelarayan was transferred out. Camacho earns $500,000 in base pay and $554,000 in total compensation. He is also out of contract after the season.

Forward Diego Rossi returned to MLS to join Columbus as the new highest-paid player, in terms of base compensation, and fill the DP slot vacated by the Zelarayan transfer. Rossi’s base compensation is a team-high $2.625 million, and his total compensation for this season is $2.677 million.

The last notable salary change for the Black & Gold is the first report of Aidan Morris’ new contract signed early in the 2023 season. Morris’ new deal was not reported during the May release but is here. The young midfielder (recently named the league’s third-best U22 player) sees his base compensation rise from $200,000 to $500,000 while his total compensation rises from $202,000 to $554,000. The new contract runs through the 2026 MLS season.

Including Morris’ raise, the Crew added $4.68 million in base compensation and $4.93 in total compensation. While this number is lower than the total salary out in 2023, it is important to note that the salaries out could not be re-spent on a one-to-one basis.

MLS has a new top five in roster spend, with Inter Miami’s mid-season splash launching them to the top of the spend rankings with $39.4 million in player salaries. Just behind Miami is wooden spoon winner Toronto FC at $32.3 million, LA Galaxy at $25 million, LAFC at $20.8 million and the Chicago Fire at $20.4 million. Of these top five spending teams, only LAFC is currently in the 2023 MLS Cup playoffs, though Chicago does have an outside shot of grabbing one of the last slots on MLS Decision Day.

Most of Miami’s dramatic salary increase is due to the club’s acquisition of multiple Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi. Messi earns $12 million in base compensation and $20.4 million in total compensation. Messi’s total compensation is more than 23 other teams spend on their full roster (including Columbus). Miami’s other two former Barcelona signees are on much more modest wages, with Sergio Busquets earning $1.5 million in base compensation and $1.775 million in total compensation, while Jordi Alba earns $1 million in base compensation and $1.25 million in total compensation.

Elsewhere in the league, Minnesota’s new DP Teemu Pukki earns $3.2 million in base compensation and $3.55 million in total compensation. Pukki and Messi are the only two mid-season acquisitions to join the top 10 earners in MLS.