The Seattle Sounders have already exercised their 2026 option on Obed Vargas and are now working on a two-year extension, Sounder at Heart has confirmed. Andrew Wiebe was the first to report this during the pregame show of Sunday’s broadcast.
Additionally, Sounder at Heart can confirm that Vargas would occupy a U22 Initiative roster spot if he were to sign the extension. Vargas is currently making a about $135,000 a year. If he were to become a U22 player, Homegrowns can be paid as much as $200,000 more than the maximum salary-budget charge. In 2026, that means Vargas could be paid a little more than $1 million per season. This season, the top paid Homegrown U22 is the Chicago Fire’s Brian Gutierrez who is making about $950,000 in guaranteed compensation.
In a sense, none of this changes much about Vargas’ immediate future. There’s still a possibility that a foreign team could make an offer good enough to compel the Sounders to transfer Vargas as early as this summer.
In a broader sense, though, this simplifies Vargas’ situation. Vargas will have the security of being paid a significant wage in exchange for allowing the Sounders to strengthen their negotiating position with interested suitors.
Transfermarkt currently estimates Vargas’ value at about $7 million. Sounder at Heart has confirmed that Liga MX’s Tigres UANL has made it known that they’d be willing to spend as much as $10 million to secure Vargas’ rights, but that he prefers a move to Europe.
This move suggests both the Sounders and Vargas are willing to wait until the right offer surfaces. In the meantime, Vargas has established himself as a virtually written-in-ink starter for Brian Schmetzer and any replacement would certainly need to go through some bedding in process. While the Sounders can convert as much as $3 million of any transfer into General Allocation Money, the bulk of the funds they receive for Vargas would best be used on a transfer fee. Ideally, that would be spent on a future Designated Player, which the Sounders don’t currently have room to add.
