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Garth Lagerwey confirmed that the Seattle Sounders recently made a formal contract offer to Jordan Morris, but the general manager also pumped the brakes on a signing being imminent on Friday.
Lagerwey called the offer a "formality" in order to appease MLS Homegrown Player rules and more of a natural continuation of the Sounders' three-year courtship of Morris, whose father has been the team doctor since 2009.
"I think that Jordan has known for a long time that we want to sign him, and Jordan is going to make whatever decision is best for him and we’re OK with it. Hopefully, at some point Jordan wants to become a Sounder and he said he has. I believe him. Whenever that day comes, we’ll be happy to have him.
"I don’t anticipate any change in that status quo. I actually think that ship sailed a long time ago."
This comes on the heels of Morris reiterating his desire to return to Stanford, at least for his junior season. Here's what he told the assembled media ahead of Wednesday's U23 match against Mexico when he was asked about the contract offer:
"Still the same plan as always. I’m really committed to my team there and [to] continue my education there. I’m just really loving it at Stanford right now, and I think it’s a great experience that I’ll never get back if I leave. So I’m just going through next season and just seeing where we go from there."
While that would keep Morris from suiting up for the Sounders this summer -- as we previously speculated might be in the offing -- it's not the worst news, either. The college soccer season ends in right around the same time as this year's MLS Cup.
If Morris chose to go pro that winter, he'd be in line to join the Sounders ahead of the 2016 MLS season. That would also put him in a better environment to train for the Summer Olympics or possibly even the Copa America Centenario (yes, that's an extreme long shot).
The danger, of course, is that in the meantime Morris will receive an offer from elsewhere that's deemed "too good to pass up." Nothing along those lines appears to be the offing at the moment, but until he puts pen to paper with Sounders it will continue to be a concern.