The Zach Scott Immortality Tour lives on another year

Zach Scott will be back in a Seattle Sounders uniform for a 15th season, after all. The Sounders announced that the 35-year-old has been re-signed, a couple months after they had declined his option and it appeared as though the center back would retire. Scott is the Sounders' last remaining player from their USL days and one of just three players left from their inaugural MLS season.

"It's exciting to bring back a player who competes as hard as Zach does day in and day out," head coach Sigi Schmid said in a team release. "His toughness, resilience and experience have always made him a valuable member of this team."

Part of why it looked as though Scott had played his final season with the Sounders was that he battled a host of injuries in 2015, including a broken foot that failed to sideline him for any significant time. Still, Scott managed to play more than 2,000 minutes across all competitions and tied a career-high with 23 MLS appearances, including all three playoff games.

Bringing back Scott is likely partly due to the fact that Román Torres is still expected to be out until the summer as he recovers from a knee injury. Without Scott, the Sounders would have been left without any healthy veteran center back backups, as Jimmy Ockford and Damion Lowe have one MLS appearance between them.

The Sounders now have 27 players under contract as training camp opens.