Well I'll be damned. Still, I know he ended up in some sub-standard African league, perhaps in the UAE.
I remember conversations with Nelsen a couple years ago and it was clear he felt short-changed by MLS. He continually mentioned that MLS low-balled players and then used the option years to keep them against their will. While I understand MLS' motivations in doing this, you don't earn a lot of good will with players by acting in this manner. So, when a player then sees an option to get out, they are highly unlikely to sign a new contract for fear of the same low-ball offer and unwillingness to do anything differently. If MLS wanted to keep Nelsen, they needed to approach him last year with a meaningful raise (probably the same contract they just offered could have done it) and clauses about transfers. However, I don't know that MLS or even fans of DC United were willing to pony up that kind of money either last year or the year before... BTW - I don't believe that Nelsen's concerns about MLS were solely based on his own situation, I think he probably took issue with the way players like Namoff were treated as well.
Everyone raises some good points, altho i tend to side more with mellon002 on this issue. Their is no incentive for good players in this league to resign. They are going to get lower salaries than they would elsewhere, and once they prove themselves as being worthy of higher dollars are not allowed to go overseas. Their is also no inentive for overseas clubs to deal with MLS. They know if they are patient, they will be available in a season or two. I say this without knowing the details of how much was offered and whether or not it was a justifiable offer. I also do not pretend to know enough about the financial complications and negotiations to say that they should do this or do that. What i do believe is that MLS is shooting itself in the foot. If you are asking for $1million for player X and everyone you talk to rolls their eyes at you, you are obviously not in tune with what their market value is. Therefore you get neither the $1million nor the player. You will not win with every player, but the # of free transfers of upper-level players and near-misses seems to me to be too high. What i mean by upper level is how they were considered here in MLS at the time they left. I can't imagine top players in other countries leaving on free transfers, why should it happen here? This isn't going to be the death of MLS (at least not anytime soon), but it is worth raising an eyebrow and asking questions. Maybe not this year or next, but this is a trend that will have to change before we can be considered a "successful" league.