The Seattle Sounders announced a quartet of contract extensions on Tuesday. Although Sounder at Heart had already reported about the new deals for Nouhou, Alex Roldan and Danny Musovski, it was genuine news that Osaze De Rosario had also signed a new contract that keeps him under club control through the 2029-30 season and presumably elevates him to the senior roster.
On their own, each deal makes pretty straightforward sense. Nouhou and Musovski were both due to be out of contract at the end of the season, are reliable performers, are young enough to not expect much drop-off and aren’t particularly expensive. Roldan was already signed through December 2027, but he’s also a Top 10 right back in MLS who doubles as a Swiss-Army knife. Locking him into a longer term deal just seems prudent.
Jeremiah Oshan
The De Rosario deal is a bit more of a gamble, but also makes sense. The Guayana international had won the starting No. 9 job out of preseason, had a monster campaign in 2025 that was backed up by the underlying numbers (especially when you consider his Tacoma Defiance performance) and is relatively young. For what I assume is a pretty low guaranteed salary, this was the Sounders’ best chance to lock him at a budget-friendly number.
“Securing Nouhou, Alex, Danny and Osaze is an important step in maintaining continuity within our roster,” Sounders FC General Manager & Chief Soccer Officer Craig Waibel said in a team release. “Nouhou and Alex have been core members of this group for years and understand the standard that comes with representing this club. Danny and Osaze both showed last season that they can be impactful attacking players in our league. Rewarding players who have performed and committed themselves to the team is a priority for us, and we’re pleased to keep this group together as we continue building toward our goals.”
Beyond their individual quality, there’s a big story that’s being told here. One that is all about stability and predictability as MLS is getting ready to embark and what most assume will be the next version jump when the league fully levels up for the calendar change starting sometime between now and when the new CBA takes effect in the middle of the 2027-28 season.
As things currently stand, the only players on the roster due to be out of contract at the end of 2026 are Yeimar Gomez Andrade and Kim Kee-hee. The only other senior roster players who even have options due at the end of the season are Albert Rusnák and Ryan Sailor. Zooming out to the 2027 “sprint” season, Stefan Frei is the only other senior roster player who’s not guaranteed for the next campaign, and 19 of 27 players currently on the roster at least have options for the 2027-28 season. Of those 19 players, 15 have signed their contracts since the start of last year. Even for a team that is consistently one of the most stable from year-to-year, the Sounders have created a remarkably clear runway through at least the first season of the calendar change.
This is obviously a conscious choice and I have a few theories as to why it might be happening.
Simple predictability
In his most recent of what is becoming increasingly rare media availabilities, Waibel was asked about the upcoming calendar change. While short of specifics, I think it gave some real insight into the way the Sounders are approaching this next phase.
“There’s a lot of unknowns, a lot of theories from more exposure to higher transfers for players we have,” he said. “In my chair, we have to get there first. Remember we’re also shopping for players at the exact same time as all the wealthiest clubs in the world are shopping for players. The level of competition for players may be higher as well. There’s a lot of things we have to figure out as far as the league. Until the dust settles, I’m not sure I can do anything other than speculate.
