Top Stories

2011 MLS player salaries unveiled

BeckhamHenry (Getty)
 

Lost in the midst of the weekend MLS action was the news that Major League Soccer's players union had revealed the 2011 salaries for the league's players.

To nobody's surprise, David Beckham and Thierry Henry are the highest-paid players in MLS. In fact, the four highest-paid players in MLS were on the field together in Saturday night's LA-New York match.

The salary list also revealed some real bargains, such as New York's Tim Ream ($62,625), Seattle's Mauro Rosales ($42,000) and Chicago's Diego Chaves ($45,000).

Here are the 2011 MLS player salaries.

Give the list a look and tell us who you think some of the best bargains and most overpaid players in the league are.

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Luke Rodgers transfered to NY from Knotts County (recently promoted to League One). He only played in 4 games with them this season and made the move in March. He’s making $180,000 with the Red Bulls.

    Reply
  2. Yeah even though they have the power (though not 100%), they still have to abide by the rules & regulations of FIFA, the Bosman ruling etc….Chris Rolfe I think used the Bosman Rule to sign with Aalborg six months before his contract ended, MLS couldn’t do anything about it……so they don’t really have 100% control except for those who are under contract as in other clubs around the world……imagine if FIFA wasn’t around to check up on these clubs & organizations, players would have been ripped off like crazy……

    Reply
  3. Nobody ever factors in taxes either. Look at what is gong on in Denmark. You pay more money on taxes in Europe than here in the US.

    Reply
  4. Davies’ salary is a lot lower than I expected – wonder how much his parent club is spending on his salary. Gives us hope that he won’t cost DP salary if we buy him…

    Reply
  5. MLS owns a player so if you want to move, you have to get permission from them. In the EPL you just need to get permission from your club or if it’s less than a year you can sign a Bosman contract.

    The league has no right to own a player in my opinion. But they’re power to be had there and MLS is not in a position to want to see that disappear.

    Reply
  6. I think since he got selected in the 2nd round of the Re-Entry draft so the Galaxy only had to give him a “Genuine Offer” and not a “Bona Fide Offer” meaning they didn’t have to give him an offer that was 5% greater than their 2010 annual base salary (due to his 8+ years MLS experience). And I’m assuming they didn’t even have to match his 2010 base salary either.

    I think Frankie just wanted to be close to home. The money is probably just a bonus for him.

    Reply
  7. Tim Ream, Diego Chaves, Sean Johnson, Fabian Espindola, Lovel Palmer, Joel Lindpere, AJ DeLaGarza, Juninho to name a few.

    Anybody else got any other ideas?

    Reply
  8. Rather than just pointing out travesties of the market (read: Cummings/Casey), this list SCREAMS for a Sabremetric analysis of who the MLS Best Value XI is.

    And I think every owner in the league would want to see it.

    Reply
  9. Omar Cummings was a reserve league player 3 seasons ago when he prob. got a marginal raise- all sports work this way, you sign a contract and you play it out. Conor Casey has always been a known quantity, Omar Cummings was a 3rd round pick out of Cinncinati in 2006, would you have gave him a 3 yr contract with two option years for more than 80,000 per year??? Well you probably would considering Fred is paid over 150,000 to dilly dally on the ball, not play defense and clog up the middle while being played on the wing.

    Reply
  10. dont forget Branko and whatever scrub took him out in the 81st minute of a USOC game after he had just scored his second goal and had two woodwork dingers.

    Reply
  11. I was told, in France, tip is typically included in the price and so people normally just leave “loose change”.

    MLS is just trying to make Henry feel at home. 🙂

    Reply
  12. Juninho makes less then I thought he would. He’s been good the past few seasons.

    Charlie Davies is another steal. Obviously there were questions about his fitness at first, but he’s scoring like Bob Barker in a nursing home.

    Brian Ching, Conor Casey, Radivoje, and Ibrahim Salou all make much, much more than the current golden boot leader.

    Reply
  13. That’s because he’s Generation Adidas… it’s aimed at keeping some of the younger talent here. Those who could potentially go make the jump right to a club in europe.

    They’re paying him on potential, and the idea/hope that he’ll be a star in the league someday.

    Reply
  14. Also, according to the commentators on one of Portland’s games, Nagbe was the best player during their preseason camp. Then he got the hernia.

    Reply
  15. How is Chara considered a DP if he makes less than 150k per year?

    (SBI-The transfer/loan fee is factored into his salary figure, so THAT is above the max salary threshold, making him a DP.)

    Reply
  16. Yeah, it doesn’t make much sense to me, either. Also, he really loved that place. He was crying during his press conference saying he was leaving.

    Reply

Leave a Comment