Photo courtesy Philadelphia Union Communications
On Friday, March 7th MLS published the Spring 2025 Roster Profiles for all 30 MLS clubs, and at the beginning of the post there is a chart detailing how much General Allocation Money (GAM) remains to each club as of that date. (Click here.) All rosters are now in required to be in compliance with all roster rules, including the salary cap.
In rough terms, the amount of GAM remaining indicates how much more roster maneuvering remains available to each club. In the Philadelphia Union’s case only $450,458 remains, meaning that not much roster maneuverability is available to them at this time. They can still sign amateurs to Union II contracts they have recently been doing, or possibly to first team homegrown ones.
We also note that prior to the game-day roster announcement for Saturday’s match away to New England, Off-roster Homegrown right back Frank Westfield has already used up two of his six total short-term contracts. They allow him to dress or appear in a first-team regular season game even though he otherwise unavailable.
Westfield’s status may soon need adjustment. His performances to date suggest adjustment may have been earned and deserved. Per the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) he earns a bonus every time he dresses, plays, or starts, as Andrew Rick did last year. We do not know how roster designation changes or performance bonuses may or may not interact with GAM.
The GAM data
Here is the overall chart, ranked on most GAM remaining. We have added whether or not the club received the extra $2 million GAM in 2025 for using the the so-called U22 Initiative Special Player roster model. Philadelphia did not, because Bruno Damiani is a Young Designated Player in addition to Daniel Gazdag and Mikael Uhre as regular ones.
GAM remaining as of February 28, 2025.
| Club | Remaining GAM 2/28 | “Special Player” Model yield | |
| 1 | New York City FC | $4,223,082 | extra $2 million |
| 2 | San Diego FC | $4,124,655 | extra $2 million |
| 3 | Minnesota United FC | $3,897,595 | extra $2 million |
| 4 | Houston Dynamo FC | $3,723,709 | extra $2 million |
| 5 | Real Salt Lake | $3,303,600 | extra $2 million |
| 6 | Inter Miami CF | $3,151,842 | |
| 7 | St. Louis CITY SC | $2,603,976 | extra $2 million |
| 8 | FC Dallas | $2,363,119 | extra $2 million |
| 9 | CF Montreal | $1,868,808 | extra $2 million |
| 10 | New Your Red Bull | $1,679,089 | |
| 11 | Vancouver Whitecaps FC | $1,629,520 | extra $2 million |
| 12 | Sporting Kansas City | $1,285,258 | extra $2 million |
| 13 | Seattle Sounders | $1,152,648 | |
| 14 | Atlanta United | $1,106,085 | |
| 15 | Portland Timbers | $1,049,359 | extra $2 million |
| 16 | Columbus Crew | $ 975,461 | |
| 17 | San Jose Earthquakes | $ 898,367 | |
| 18 | Orlando City SC | $ 743,847 | |
| 19 | Charlotte FC | $ 650,444 | extra $2 million |
| 20 | Austin FC | $ 570.059 | |
| 21 | Los Angeles Football Club | $ 512,231 | |
| 22 | Philadelphia Union | $ 450,458 | |
| 23 | Chicago Fire FC | $ 449,707 | extra $2 million |
| 24 | Toronto FC | $ 425,091 | extra $2 million |
| 25 | New England Revolution | $ 318,809 | extra $2 million |
| 26 | Colorado Rapids | $ 245,208 | |
| 27 | Nashville | $ 154,293 | |
| 28 | D.C. United | $ 122,558 | |
| 29 | FC Cincinnati | $ 6.542 | extra $2 million |
| 30 | LA Galaxy | $ 0 |
Speculative conclusions
The extra $2 million for the 2025 Special Player model choice disappears at the end of 2025, so it must be used or lost. FC Cincinnati has already used virtually all of it.
The primary transfer window remains open until Wednesday, April 23rd, so clubs with lots of GAM may still be working on new acquisitions. Leading candidates for activity would seem to be New York City FC, San Diego FC, Minnesota United FC, Houston Dynamo FC, Real Salt Lake, Inter Miami CF, St. Louis CITY SC, FC Dallas, and CF Montreal.
At the other end of the spectrum, barring GAM generating sales, the only further deal the LA Galaxy could make would be a cash transaction. FC Cincinnati seems in virtually the same condition. D.C., Nashville, and Colorado are not much better off.
The other clubs, including Philadelphia, seem only able to add an inexpensive reserve, or possiby two, for depth, not a major roster asset.
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