As the dust settled on a momentous Columbus Crew victory over Tigres in the CONCACAF Champions Cup Tuesday night, MLS owners were voting on a series of roster rule changes for the upcoming summer transfer window. Mid-season rule changes are rare in MLS, but the league finds itself in uncharted waters. The current Ballon D’or winner is playing in the United States, a few European legends are rumored to be on their way to the league, and multiple massive international tournaments, including the World Cup in 2026 will be taking place in America. The owners want MLS to be well-positioned to take advantage of this growth over the next couple of summer transfer windows.

The proposed rule changes are not yet official. The league has to meet with the MLS Players Association before an agreement can be reached, and the rules be deemed official. MLS roster rules are notoriously opaque, and current roster mechanisms can be difficult to fully understand. On top of this, much of how the current Crew roster is constructed is only known by a few members of the Crew front office, but Massive Report will do its absolute best to break down what these proposed changes might mean for the Black & Gold.

If readers are interested in learning more about the proposed changes from an MLS-wide view, they are encouraged to read The Athletic article by Paul Tenorio here

Changes to Designated Player and Under 22s

As it currently stands, MLS teams can have three Designated Players (DP) whose full salary does not go toward the salary cap. Teams who max out their three DPs can sign one Under 22 (U22) player whose acquisition cost and salary are also not fully restricted by the cap. Teams can sign up to three U22’s if they only have two DPs or two DPs and one Young DP.

With the proposed changes, MLS teams can employ three DPs and still acquire up to three U22’s, or teams can have two DPs and open up their roster to four U22’s while also receiving $2 Million in General Allocation Money (GAM) from the league.

What this means for the Crew

Crew fans may be familiar with the DP restrictions after last summer’s Lucas Zelarayán and Diego Rossi transfer saga. These proposed rule changes would not have provided much relief in that scenario, but the resulting roster configuration may have added significant flexibility that can be utilized with these rule changes.

Cucho Hernández and Rossi are both known to be Designated Players. Columbus resigned DP midfielder Darlington Nagbe this off-season. It was reported at the time that Nagbe’s salary figure allowed his contract to be bought down to under DP level.

This would appear to be the case considering the marquee acquisition of the off-season was U22 initiative signing Marino Hinestroza. Before Hinestroza, the only known U22 player in Columbus was Alex Mățan, who was acquired in 2021.

If we are to believe the current roster status is two DPs (Hernadez & Rossi) and two U22’s (Mățan & Hinestroza) This would allow significant roster flexibility for the upcoming summer.

Columbus could acquire one more DP and one more U22 player. Or, General Manager Tim Bezbatchenko could opt to stay with only two DPs and push for two more U22’s while securing some significant GAM that can be used to bolster the roster. For the first season teams choosing this path will only receive $1 Million in GAM as the rules will take effect halfway through the year, half of the season, half of the GAM.

Do not discount the appeal of an extra infusing of GAM. while the acronyms and complexities of the currency can be annoying, GAM is often used in interleague transactions. The type of moves Columbus took advantage of at length last season in acquiring the likes of Malte Amundsen, Rudy Camacho, and Jullian Gressel. Utilizing $2 Million in GAM properly could be the difference between simply making the MLS playoffs or lifting the MLS Cup.

Two contract buyouts per season

MLS teams could exercise a contract buyout twice throughout the season instead of just once. An extra buyout would free up a roster spot for a team that finds itself paying out a contract they feel is not living up to the investment. Previously the one allowed buy-out had to occur during the pre-season.

What this means for the Crew

In immediate terms, not much. Columbus has not exercised a contract buyout in recent years and while salary data is hard to come by, no particular contract stands out as “dead money.” Perhaps another MLS team will release a player that head coach Wilfried Nancy feels he can work his magic on and develop at a discounted price.

$3 million per year in transfer or loan dollars can be converted to GAM

Currently, teams can convert up to $1,215,506 of any transfer revenue to GAM. In theory, if a team sells two players for $4 Million each, they can convert the maximum amount of both those transfers and walk away with about $2.4 Million in GAM. Incendetly if one team transfers one player for $20 Million, they would only be able to convert the maximum $1,215,506. It pays more in GAM to have numerous small transfers than one big blockbuster sale.

What this means for the Crew

Remember how important GAM was last summer? Imagine this year a couple of Columbus’s talented young players are sold overseas. Immediately with the infusion of $3 Million in GAM, The Crew could acquire a couple MLS veterans as replacements for the end of the season and playoffs.

This rule change is all about rewarding teams that develop talent and sell them for top dollar. converting outbound transfers to interleague talent is how teams like the Crew can remain competitive in MLS and not be forced to rebuild just because their best players earned a promotion to a marquee league.

For the better part of five seasons, Columbus fans have remained confident in Tim Bezbatchenko and his front office. These rules, if implemented, could very well result in an even more talented roster from top to bottom. If the organization’s goals is more trophies, then taking advantage of new rules and flexibility will be paramount to the success.