Apparently not content to potentially acquire one FC Dallas player, the Seattle Sounders are also in discussions about acquiring Paul Arriola, according to a report by Tom Bogert in Give Me Sport. The report does not detail who or what the Sounders might be giving up. It also says FC Dallas would keep a portion of Arriola’s salary on their books in order to lower his cap hit, which was nearly $1.75 million last year.
Sounder at Heart has independently confirmed the main aspects of Bogert’s report and has also learned that FC Dallas would need to cover upwards of $1 million of Arriola’s salary and that the player would need to agree to a contract extension that would presumably bring down his cap hit in subsequent seasons. Arriola is currently on a guaranteed contract for 2025 with 2026 option year.
Not considering his hefty salary, Arriola has been a reasonably productive player. Playing mostly as as a full back and wing back, he had five goals and seven assists last season. In 2022, he had 10 goals and seven assists while playing more as a winger. At the time, he was also a regular call-up to the United States men’s national team during World Cup qualifying.
But his offensive abilities are contrasted against defense that rates as mostly below average in a host of metrics. Still, if the plan is for the Sounders to have more ability to shift into a 3-5-2 formation, a player like Arriola does give them that flexibility.
Expansion Draft trade
Completely separate from these talks, the Sounders also agreed to send two 2025 international roster spots to San Diego FC for $250,000 in General Allocation Money. The spots were traded at a discount – they usually go for anywhere from $175,000-$225,000 apiece at this time of year – in order to effectively keep San Diego from picking any Sounders who were exposed to the Expansion Draft. That leaves the Sounders with seven international roster spots — they picked up an extra one when they traded Xavier Arreaga to the New England Revolution last year — only three of which are currently in use.
