Latest salary data illustrates how Sounders are falling behind

For most of the Seattle Sounders’ existence, they’ve ranked somewhere in the top third in terms of roster spending. As recently as last year, they were spending the seventh most of the league’s 29 teams.

There were definitely red flags in terms of total spending — they had effectively stopped paying transfer fees from the 2022 winter window until they signed Pedro de la Vega last offseason — but they had at least been keeping up with trends when it came to paying star players.

The latest salary data released by the MLS Players Association this week paints a very different picture.

The Sounders currently rank 15th in terms of guaranteed compensation. That’s down from 12th earlier this year after they were inactive for a third straight summer. The only player they added since then was Georgi Minoungou — who signed after the window closed — and he makes about $90,000. (Note: Jackson Ragen’s new contract is not reflected in this data and would potentially move the Sounders up one or two spots.)

League-wide, spending on guaranteed compensation is up 7.5% from a year ago. The Sounders are just one of eight teams who are spending less on guaranteed compensation this year than they were at this time a year ago, and their roughly 13% drop in compensation spending is the third largest drop in the league. Of the eight teams who are spending less on guaranteed compensation this year than they were last year, the Sounders have also spent the least on transfers.

What’s perhaps even more concerning is that once you add in transfer fees, the Sounders drop into the bottom third of total spending. That includes paying about $6.5 million on Pedro de la Vega’s transfer, which simply illustrates how moves like that aren’t enough to even keep up with the rest of the league.

While the parity within MLS means that spending still has very little correlation to points in general, we’re starting to see some stratification. The top six teams in total spending all made the postseason and both conference winners were in the top four of total spending. On the flip side, the three lowest spending teams all missed the postseason and the Sounders were the only team in the bottom nine to finish in the top four of the regular season. While four of the top six spending teams have already qualified for the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup, the Vancouver Whitecaps are the only team among the bottom 10 spending teams to do it, and that’s only because they won the Canadian Championship.

As their results on the field show, the Sounders are still managing to remain competitive. That’s a testament to the foundation they’ve built over the years, the work of Brian Schmetzer and a developmental pipeline that has played a significant role in producing more than half of the team’s first-team roster. It’s entirely possible that they’ll soon sell some of those developmental players and pump that money back into the first-team roster.

But to remain among the elite teams in MLS, the Sounders must do more to keep up with spending trends. Their currently highest paid player is Raúl Ruidíaz, who has barely played during the second half of the season. He’s going to be coming off the books this offseason and spending wisely on his replacement will be huge, especially with the Club World Cup looming in the summer. Now is the time for serious investment.