That sounds likely, and would make sense if he wanted to go to Tampa and perhaps didn't want to be part of a three-man rotation/competition in NE.
Assuming what Bravo said is accurate (and it does feel like some hand waving to me), the particulars of this deal seem mostly to be about what type of compensation Colorado needed most. Assuming Colorado could have sent Pickens directly to TB for 150k, then Colorado wouldn't have gotten full cap relief but would have gotten 150k cash (I have only seen it referred to as a transfer fee, not allocation money, so I am assuming the $ received from TB couldn't have been used to manage cap). Instead, they got the full cap relief (around $200k, right?). So Rapids must have been more concerned about making the cap work than just getting a 150k cash windfall.
Standard MLS practice is that transfer fees become allocation money, no reason this would have been different. Now I'm not sure its a 1 to 1 ratio (they've got back and forth with that over the years) so maybe full cap relief is more than what we would have gotten with allocation money, and even if it was 1 to 1 I do think Pickens was making more than $150K this season so it wouldn't have cleared all of it.
Me either and that very well maybe the "fishy" part that I spoke of. Could it be that Pickens and agent pulled the wool over the eyes of CO and NE?? I can't see that happening. I don't see Pickens being vindictive and conniving. Who knows, honestly. But this screams of a back story and I'm interested.
It would be possible depending on how MLS deals with waivers, guaranteed deals and the cap. If the Rapids waived a guy with a guaranteed deal, perhaps they're on the hook for all or most of his guaranteed salary. Revs claim Pickens on waivers; apparently they are *not* on hook for that. Maybe they were able to sign him for the veteran minimum (this is what would happen in MLB if a player is waived, passes through waivers, then signed by someone else). So maybe the Revs were only on the hook for $40,000, which they'd make back through the sale, or maybe it was a non-guaranteed deal. Whole thing is pretty bizarre though!
I think Matt Pickens is absolutely an MLS-caliber goalkeeper, and a starter at that. However, my sincere hope is that he's happy with what the Rowdies are offering him. I wish him all the best. He was always a favorite of mine, and I will forever be grateful for his heroics in 2010, especially the save he made at 3:28 in the video on this page: http://www.mlssoccer.com/history/mlscup/2010 Matt-- look for a place in St. Petersburg. So much nicer than Tampa.
I will say that TB is much closer to being a championship contender than our beloved Rapids. They've assembled and retooled an already very good NASL side. Pickens could be guy that gets them over the hump. The Cosmos, though, still rule the roost in acquisitions and money.
I am not sure why everyone think this is such a bad move by the FO. People make careers out of playing salary cap rules in other leagues, why not MLS? If sending Matt to Tampa through NE gets full cap relief, then kudos to the FO for figuring out a loophole. Good for NE to get a little cash out of the deal, Good for Matt to get a starting job in a warm climate, and Good for Tampa to get a quality GK. I could easily see Matt back in MLS soon, other GK's have moved up and been successful! rod.
The conversation about this being a bad move was mostly before the news of the loophole came out. Now that loophole makes no sense to me, but if its really there then the Rapids lucked out and got about the best result they could have.
He signed a multi-year deal. At 32, it's unlikely he will ever return to MLS. It is extremely rare for any MLS club to pay a transfer fee for a GK. Assuming salary hindered his MLS interest, aside from NE, that almost guarantees no one would pay a transfer fee. Matt will be a huge asset to TB and I highly doubt TB would make it easy for a MLS club to pry him away. I'm sure Matt will make a comfortable living in TB and round out a very, very respectable career. He instantly shoots to the top of the goalkeeping ranks in the NASL and there's little doubt TB made a HUGE acquisition. Honestly, TB have been pretty ambitious in acquiring Matt. They already boast one of the better GK's in the NASL in Diego Restrepo. He was NASL Player of the Week 3 0r 4 times and was named to the team of the Week 6 or more times. TB don't really need Pickens per se but kudos for them for pouncing on him. TB are serious about challenging the Cosmos and are willing to shell out the dough to make it happen.
I'm astounded that minor league soccer teams make enough to survive, much less shell out $150,000 and salary for a keeper.
After just watching the highlights from MLS Cup 2010 on my lunch break (it's a slow day at work and Saturday's game seems too far away), I was reminded of the hugs saves Pickens made in that game, especially late. I hope he does well in TB and is happy.
Aside from the Cosmos and Orlando City, maybe San Antonio, so am I. However, this offseason, just as MLS has ponied up and splashed some cash on acquisitions, so have some USL-Pro and NASL clubs. Of course, I mean by USL-Pro and NASL standards. Those clubs must be paying top players equivalent to mid-level MLS salaries. There's been a nice contingent of lower to mid-level MLS (or foreign) talent that has popped up in the USL or NASL recently. I don't see some of that talent playing for pennies on the dollar. If it came down to making 100K and sitting on a MLS bench and making 55K playing every week in the USL-Pro or NASL, as one of the better players, I think 9 of 10 guys would chose MLS. Something must be attracting them to the USL-Pro and NASL. Whatever, it is, I'm glad. I think those leagues are extremely vital and often underappreciated in their development of the professional game in the US.
Got some clarification from the Rapids on Bravo's statement. Here is what could have happened: We waived Pickens - He goes straight to Tampa: We take a cap hit for at least part of his salary We waived Pickens - He goes straight to NE: We take a cap hit for at least part of his salary We waived Pickens - He goes to Tampa via NE in a sale (what actually happened): We take no cap hit We sell Pickens to Tampa: We take no cap hit Essentially by selling Pickens to Tampa, be it by us or NE, we get free of his cap hit. Waiving Pickens and not having him sold at all (either he stays in the league being claimed off waivers or goes tot he NASL on a free) means we take a cap hit because he still gets paid his MLS salary in that scenario.
Considering some of the reports that have come out from around the world about teams struggling to pay their players, it might make MLS and the stable clubs of NASL and USLPro attractive because would you rather be promised 250K but possibly only get 50K of that or be offered 100K and actually get the 100K?
tl:dr version of my post. Matt was guaranteed his Rapids salary (and thus a cap hit against us) unless he was sold to another league which would terminate his MLS contract.
In the final scenario (selling him) we take no cap hit and make money. That is the one I can't figure out. Is it possible we were ready to take the cap hit and just got lucky New England dealt him
Guaranteed contract. We guaranteed he'd get paid $X in 2014. Just because we choose to cut him doesn't mean he's not due that money (under MLS's guaranteed contract agreement in the CBA). That contract goes away when Tampa buys him as part of FIFA's player transfer rules. The old contract gets ripped up and he agrees to a new contract with Tampa. Now I do wonder if the amount of the cap it would be reduced by the salary he was getting from Tampa, so we would only pay the difference between his Tampa salary and his guaranteed MLS 2014 salary.