MLS found six new players to attend the Combine in a couple weeks. Currently each Combine team will consist of just 15 players, but Generation Adidas signings and international prospects will eventually expand those roster. The league also announced five players that are no longer heading to the league event, one of whom is a Sounders Academy product.
There are five players who are no longer on the list: Brandon Allen (Georgetown), Bradley Bourgeois (Tulsa), Brendan Hines-Ike (South Florida), Jordan Schweitzer (Denver) and Andrew Souders (Akron). Allen signed a Homegrown Player deal with the New York Red Bulls on Dec. 21.
Hines-Ike signed in Sweden. Allen signed an HGP deal. Schweitzer, Bourgeois (Dynamo) and Souders (Crew) are all HGP eligible. Schweitzer is the Seattle Sounders best CDM prospect and had a college career with the University of Denver. Seattle confirmed that they maintain the option to sign him as an HGP.
Seattle is short central players after Rose left for Coventry City, Azira went to the Rapids and Pineda had his option declined. Schweitzer would continue Lagerwey's goals of getting younger. The Everett product started 70 games in his four-year career and racked up 6,404 minutes in his collegiate career. He also played for the Sounders U23s.
There's also the possibility that the Sounders may have convinced Schweitzer to sign a S2 contract, similar to what Duncan McCormick did before last season. This would likely allow the Sounders to maintain his HGP status, while offering a more clear path toward playing time than he'd have if he were picked in the late-second or third round of the draft.