Earlier this week, the MLSPA released the list of players who are set to become (or potentially become, as the case may be for players with options for 2025) Free Agents heading into next season. With a winter window that is almost certainly going to involve a fair amount of change to the Seattle Sounders roster, there will definitely be some interest in the list from the club’s front office.
While we’re all hoping – and to a certain extent expecting – to see the club make some serious investment in bringing in impact players, there are some options that could help the club going forward and would make a good fit who will be hitting free agency. With that in mind, it seems worth running through some of the players who will definitely be free agents (i.e., not pending an option) that could make sense in Rave Green.
Jackson Yueill: João Paulo has been a key figure in the Sounders midfield pretty much since the day he arrived in 2020, but injury and age have undeniably slowed him down and made him less consistently available. His contract runs out this year, and if Seattle decide it’s time to move on from the Brazilian, Jackson Yueill could make a pretty good replacement. He’s obviously not a direct like-for-like, but there’s enough of an overlap in what the two offer it’s not difficult to envision Yueill in a midfield pair with the likes of Cristian Roldan or Josh Atencio. Especially if Seattle move back to having a 6 who primarily sits in front of the backline or between the centerbacks to help with distribution when the team is in possession.
Yueill is obviously a lower usage player than JP, but he simply doesn’t miss passes and is actually a slightly higher producer of expected goal contributions, despite rating so much lower in terms of shot-creating actions. With potential midfield partners who are so capable of covering ground and moving the ball forward, and a No. 10 in Pedro de la Vega who definitely wants to be on the ball more than any of Seattle’s other wingers, he could be a really useful addition to the lineup. If Seattle want to try to possess the ball, replacing João Paulo with Jackson Yueill – who turns 28 in March and made about $500k less in 2024 – would make a lot of sense.
