Ah.....my bad. You are correct though. The Fontas gift keeps giving. I can't believe those "highlights" are still on the SKC website.
Well, look at Shelton's highlights before between 2020 and 2022. That's what almost doubles your salary. Look at Melia's performances: As they've gone down, his pay has gone up (how can he be earning more now than when he was fantastic?
Was Melia able to be a free agent? There might have been other teams that still rated him as well. That might at least explain why he'd have gotten a nice raise even if slightly diminished from peak. Shelton getting paid so much is still one of the great mysteries of the universe.
In 2023, Tim Melia is the sixth highest paid keeper in MLS (he was seventh, but then Room was transfered to Vitesse). Melia is 37. His 2022 stats: 21 starts. 5-11-4 record. 1853 minutes played, 45 saves. 1.65 GAA. He was out injured for 13 league games. We increased his salary by more than $100,000 a year coming off that season, as he turned 37, an age at which it is possible a GK might still be fine, but at which nobody is improving, and nobody is getting healthier. Somebody else may well have signed Melia as a clubhouse presence, but nobody was seeing a week-in, week-out starter in our 37 year old. Nobody was seeing a top 10 in MLS keeper. If we'd offered $100k less than he made in 2022, his salary would have been a risk. I do think Vermes has a troubling problem with players not being treated well at the end of their careers, I think it comes from his own experience, and while I think it is understandable, it isn't smart.
I am not well informed as to the end of PV's time as a player but that is a very compelling point, one that would never had occurred to me.
I can't find the piece, but there was something a long time ago where I recall him speaking about his end as a player being disappointing. That said, we question Melia, and he comes up big. OTOH, I think he would have come up just as big at $450,000.