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It’s that wonderfully awkward time of the year again when the Major League Soccer Players Union publicly releases the salaries of every single one of their players. Finally media and fans get to sort through all the hard work team personnel has done to fit the best possible roster within the financial constraints of MLS. Unlike last year, there are no mystery players that we didn’t know existed for Atlanta United (shout out Jeffrey Otoo), it’s just a list of what every player under contract for the club makes. Here’s the full list:
Atlanta United 2017 Salaries
| Club | Last Name | First Name | Pos | 2017 Base Salary | 2017 Guaranteed Compensation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Club | Last Name | First Name | Pos | 2017 Base Salary | 2017 Guaranteed Compensation |
| ATL | Almiron | Miguel | M | $1,912,500.00 | $2,297,000.00 |
| ATL | Ambrose | Mikey | D | $65,625.00 | $65,625.00 |
| ATL | Asad | Yamil | M | $150,000.00 | $150,000.00 |
| ATL | Bloom | Mark | D | $99,225.00 | $106,573.89 |
| ATL | Carleton | Andrew | F | $65,000.00 | $77,400.00 |
| ATL | Carmona | Carlos | M | $675,000.00 | $725,000.00 |
| ATL | Garza | Greg | D | $150,000.00 | $150,000.00 |
| ATL | Gonzalez Pirez | Leandro | D | $250,008.00 | $285,008.00 |
| ATL | Goslin | Chris | M | $70,000.00 | $74,000.00 |
| ATL | Gressel | Julian | M | $75,000.00 | $93,750.00 |
| ATL | Heath | Harrison | M | $66,150.00 | $66,150.00 |
| ATL | Jones | Kenwyne | F | $390,000.00 | $413,333.33 |
| ATL | Kratz | Kevin | M | $150,000.00 | $164,250.00 |
| ATL | Larentowicz | Jeff | M | $175,008.00 | $175,008.00 |
| ATL | Loyd | Zach | D | $85,008.00 | $85,008.00 |
| ATL | Martinez | Josef | F | $924,000.00 | $1,041,310.00 |
| ATL | McCann | Chris | M | $540,000.00 | $568,000.00 |
| ATL | Mears | Tyrone | D | $183,756.00 | $183,756.00 |
| ATL | Oblitey Otoo | Jeffrey | M-F | $53,000.00 | $53,000.00 |
| ATL | Parkhurst | Michael | D | $325,008.00 | $325,008.00 |
| ATL | Peterson | Jacob | F | $165,300.00 | $165,300.00 |
| ATL | Reynish | Kyle | GK | $65,004.00 | $65,004.00 |
| ATL | Robinson | Miles | D | $125,000.04 | $195,000.04 |
| ATL | Rochez | Bryan | F | $200,000.00 | $279,500.00 |
| ATL | Tambakis | Alexander | GK | $65,004.00 | $65,004.00 |
| ATL | Vazquez | Brandon | F | $100,008.00 | $120,008.00 |
| ATL | Villalba | Hector | F | $663,000.00 | $770,750.00 |
| ATL | Walkes | Anton | D | $53,004.00 | $53,004.00 |
| ATL | Wheeler-Omiunu | Andrew | M | $53,004.00 | $53,004.00 |
| ATL | Williams | Romario | F | $65,000.00 | $65,000.00 |
There are many hot takes to be had about Atlanta’s figures that will surely show up in the comments. Overall, Atlanta United have only spent the eighth most of any club in MLS in their first year. They rank just behind the Seattle Sounders and Portland Timbers. Toronto FC leads the way with a remarkable $22 million spent, mainly on their high-priced attacking trio of Sebastian Giovinco, Jozy Altidore, and Michael Bradley.
It’s no surprise to find out that Miguel Almiron is Atlanta United’s highest paid player at just under $2.3 million. If we’re being honest, compared to all the other Designated Players in the league, that’s a bargain for the Five Stripes.
As you’d expect, the club’s other two DP’s round out the Top 3 biggest earners. They are followed by Carlos Carmona who is raking in near-DP money. No. 5 on the list is a bit surprising considering how the season has played out thus far. Chris McCann, who has only played a handful of minutes, is making a very nice chunk of change. Focus will immediately be on players who aren’t living up to their contracts, but it’s important to remember that we’re only seven matches into the season and the club’s existence. It’s a long season and any player’s fortune or impact can change going forward.
The high end of the spectrum consists of mainly who you’d expect, but there are some interesting cases where players are out-performing their wages. A couple of prime examples of this are Yamil Asad and Leandro Gonzalez Pirez. Both have been upper-echelon players and when you combine their salaries, they bring in the same as a borderline TAM players would. That’s some good business.
Overall, I’ll leave you with a thought from a friend of the site, Mr. Matt Doyle of MLSSoccer.com.
@TiotalFootball I only see one "bad" contract. You guys should build a statue of Paul McDonough.
— Matthew Doyle (@MattDoyle76) April 25, 2017
The team’s technical staff has done a wonderful job building the inaugural roster. Not every decision was going to come off with 100% accuracy, but so far it’s been as near-perfect as you could hope for. Remember this when formulating your hot takes on the financials of the team. They’ve delivered on their promise of building an exciting and competitive team from day one.