Red Bulls rookie Eric Brunner has turned down the developmental contract the Red Bulls offered him after the team dropped him from the senior roster last week, meaning the second-round pick could be gone from the Red Bulls for good.
The Red Bulls dropped Brunner from its senior roster, and voided his contract, in order to make room for newly-acquired defender Andrew Boyens. Rather than accept the new developmental contract offered by the Red Bulls, Brunner has turned it down and is now weighing possibilities outside of MLS.
"Eric has decided to pass on the developmental offer, and we’re currently exploring both USL and European options," said Leo Cullen, Brunner’s agent. "He wished something could have worked out with NY, and is hopeful that there will be an opportunity there down the road, but is now exploring alternatives."
The No. 16 overall pick in January’s draft, Brunner was signed to a contract worth a base salary of $36,000 and guaranteed compensation worth $44,750, but the Red Bulls essentially ripped up his contract (which wasn’t guaranteed) and offered him a senior developmental salary valued at $17,700 a year.
What next. Brunner is leaving open the possibility of returning to the Red Bulls, but the fact that the Red Bulls terminated his original contract means Brunner is free to play anywhere he wants outside of MLS (the Red Bulls still hold his rights because it did offer him a developmental contract). A USL deal is possible but with the USL season under way, most teams have already committed most of their resources to their current roster. Brunner could also head to Europe this summer and search for a contract there.
Will the Red Bulls offer him his old contract? They would have to make room on their senior roster to do so and right now it doesn’t appear that there is a player on the 18-man senior roster the club wants to unload in favor of Brunner.
Brunner has shown some flashes during the pre-season but has also shown his inexperience, which has kept him low on the pecking order of Red Bulls defenders, which is likely why the club decided it was worth the risk to drop him from a senior roster spot to developmental slot.
What do you think of this news? Share your thoughts below.
Sounds like the red bulls offered the SD contract so he could not go anywhere in the league. The kid has great talent, just look at all his awards from OSU. He is smart to leave, USL will give him playing time and next year EURO or MLS will benefit from his talent. Good Luck, Eric.
Man is that Osorio one classy dude!
I agree with most of the comments above.
Can’t blame Brunner and feel bad for him.
Lack of class act for Red Bulls to switch contracts on Brunner at this point. As a result he should be allowed to sign with any MLS team.
MLS is a joke for the 16th pick to be expected to play for 18K per year. A JOKE LEAGUE.
RBNY ripped up his original contract and yet get to retain his rights?!?!?! WHAAA?? The kid got a raw deal. He should be a free agent and able to sign with MLS teams, too. Ripping up his contract is the equivalent of releasing him, IMO.
They should at least start the league at a living wage. They can still have a tight and restrictive cap that keeps costs from spiralling without making it this ridiculously low. How about these minimums:
dev: 34k
rookie senior roster: 44K
Senior roster: 64K
Increase the cap to about 4 million and the dps to $1 M combined total against the cap.
They could also introduce a generous bonus system for first team appearances, goals etc
Jeff Agoos needs to be seriously reprimanded for his absolutely unnecessary, uncalled for comments implying Brunner lacks character. He should publicly apologize or be fired.
Just when we thought things could get worse…..well at least i hope that he goes off to europe and stars over there, instead of going to some other MLS team
It’s amazing to me that Osorio and Agoos have somehow escaped blame for another fiasco in all the comments.
Look, place the blame where its due — on the Red Bulls front office — which has no idea how to build a team, franchise, or business. Let alone a legacy. It’s a shame for all Red Bulls fans and NY soccer fans in general.
I would also like to clarify that it WAS POSSIBLE for the Red Bulls to offer Kassel a generation adidas contract that would probably have paid him $100k per year starting. It was THEIR CHOICE to offer him a developmental contract and he dismissed it as would have been obvious to anyone, except an idiot, that he would. There aren’t that many jobs that offer kids a $100k starting salary out of college, let alone high school.
Ives wrote just last week about how Toronto succeeded in reaching a large population of soccer fans that were ready and waiting for product. Toronto would “stop” during World Cup games in 2006. Well guess what, much of NY also stopped during WC games in 2006. In fact, you couldn’t turn on the street without seeing a tv in most any bar showing the matches. NY has hundreds of thousands of soccer fans, but yet they don’t show up to Red Bulls games. There are many reasons for this, but at the end of the day, the NY team isn’t hitting its target market and the market definitely exists here.
How is Leo Cullen even an agent? He isn’t listed as a FIFA licensed agent? No wonder Eric got bad representation – the guy isn’t even legitimate.
Sports teams void contracts all the time. These provisions are written into the contract. Look at the NFL. Players sign huge multi-year contracts only to get cut in an attempt to trip payroll and get under the salary cap. The main difference is that when NFL players are cut, they are now free agents and can resign with whoever they want. In the case with Brunner, it seems that once his contract is voided, his options are much more limited. Its either resign with NYRB (and live below the poverty line) or leave MLS entirely.
Has anyone seen an MLS contract? I am curious to understand how an agent would allow the client to sign a document called a “contract” that also allowed MLS to void the “contract” without paying out the value of the “contract”.
This is like the arrangement of a person working at a business “at will”. Generally signing a contract binds both parties, not just one. Brunner needs to fire his agent and find someone who knows contracts, otherwise if this is simply what MLS does, then the players need to make sure the power relationship is altered in the new negotiations.
Yeah, the MLS rules have a looong way to go. I can’t comprehend how NYRB can retain his rights after they voided his contract. The union really screwed that one up in negotiating the last CBA.
Reid:
honestly, I would doubt Kassel is actually getting a full ride. Men’s Soccer Teams are limited to 9.9 full scholarships for the entire squad, almost no one gets a full ride. Have you seen their class of 2012 alone? three high school All-Americans, Zac McMath out of Bradenton, and a guy from the DCU academy. they are probably splitting 2-3 scholarships between them. maybe 4.
Eric, we hardly knew ye. I don’t blame him for turning the contract down. The salary is pathetic and he could probably do better elsewhere.
Good for Eric, don’t blame him one bit for turning down the contract
I thought it was funny that when you compare out of state tuition that Matt Kassel is most likely going to make more money (100% soccer scholarship) going to college then getting a developmental contract.
It’s a shame what’s happened to Matt Kasel and now Eric Brunner. $17k is pathetic for any sports league. I don’t understand with MLS successes (such as rising attendance, Beckham, higher jersey sales, more soccer stadiums,etc.)these last couple of years why the league has bothered raising development salaries and the salary cap. I mean they should at least raise it to $3-4 million to improve the quality and number of players. Finally, even though I support the Red Bulls, this franchise has no social skills period. What kind of franchise would do these kind of things to their players? Then again it’s not suprising since the Redbulls have driven away so many of their own fans that it’s a challenge for this team to remain viable.
MLS will never adequately develop talent with that kind of salary and the ridiculous signing rules that it has placed on its youth academies.
The low salary is much too low.
It’s all pretty disappointing.
Forming the academies is a step. But it’s a very small, small step with the way the signing rules are right now.
Here’s my problem with all of this: Player development. You have a player that is offered a crap contract to a team, where he might be wanted by another MLS side as a first team player. I think that if a player’s contract is ripped up, he should be able to go to any other team in the league. It would be better for the league if the best players were listed amongst the 18 on every squad instead of what has transpired with Conde and Brunner.
Just my .02
Good for Eric! He leaves a mid-table team in a 4th tier league. More BS by MLS where american players are continually mistreated. Nice to see one guy not take it.
I agree that MLS shouldn’t be tearing up contracts at will. That will likely change in the next labor contract as will the minumum salary.
In regards to USL, I think most college kids should go there first as they generally aren’t ready for MLS and they’d get better experience in ULS 1&2 than on the MLS reserves.
Basically, 120 kids are drafted every year and three quarters will never make their mark in MLS and only a tenth will have any sort of impact in year one.
My recommentation to mls would be this:
Increase the “senior roster” to between 20 and 22 players. The long season guarantee’s alot of injuries and the 117th pick in the draft will not like be able to competantly cover for a veteran.
This will allow teams to concentrate on their 8-12 “developmental spots” to those whom really have long term potential (the embryonic acadamy system and really top prospects in the draft) rather than whatever warm body they can get under the salary cap. I bet that most teams would prefer to have a David Hayes or Dan Antoniak or Kupano Low (Top USL Players if you don’t know)filling out the end of their bench than the 117th pick in the draft.
And yes, the minimum wage should be increased at least to the 35K to 50K range to compete with the USL salaries. I don’t pretend that MLS can keep up with even the second tier Europe leagues anytime soon in salaries but surely its better to have a USL 1 all-star filling out an MLS roster than the 117th pick in the draft.
I think that would have more tangible benefits to MLS on field quality than pretending that Christiano Ronaldo or Totti or Rooney will somehow show up with we just start paying more money. Did you see some of the rookies play? Pretty unimpressive on the whole as to be expected.
Does 17K even pay for car insurance in NJ? I’m kidding sort of. This is embarrassing and really undermines the credibility of a league claiming to be “major league”. Not to mention how sleazy it is to do that to someone and then expect them to stick around and smile about it. I hope the players union crushes the owners next year in the CBA. They deserve it for pulling garbage like this. Good luck Eric leave this place in the dust and don’t look back.
Really hust an example of how ridiculous MLS Salaries & Player Aquisition Rules are
lolz @ guillermo & @ kpugs calling out his own joke for being lame. you’re right, buddy, it is!
Sounds like this kid got smart and decided to jump off the sinking ship while he still has plenty of career left?
it would be awesome if he got on in europe at least with a Danish or or Sweedish or lower level Euro club, then come back next year with Metro.
So that is what Leo Cullen is doing now. I always thought he was a pretty decent player (remember the Fusion?). How bottom of the barrel must an agent feel when he’s looking at getting a slice of a big fat $17.7k developmental contract? Ari from “Entourage” he is not.
I want to know how in the world someone is supposed to live in the NY Metro area on $17k…
Colorado, Columbus, KC… sure. It sucks and you have a crappy apartment with a couple of guys, but it’s doable. But NY/NJ? Good luck with that.
“Either Agoos or Osorio said it’d show something about his character if he stuck around…”
What does it say about the character of Agoos and Osorio to pull a move like that a expect him to stay around?
Kid should move on — MLS teams with defensive depth issues (LA, Chivas, etc.) should seriously look at trading for his rights on the cheap (low draft pick).
with salaries that low, MLS is awfully close to being a semi-pro league.
Is the collective bargaining agreement with the MLS players union up at the end of this season or next? You can make $17,000 a year at Walmart, this is just embarassing for the league. And the players union appears ready to pick a fight about this.
I completely fail to understand how the league can unilaterally void the entirety of a “contract”. My minimal, one semester, understanding of business law says that is not allowed. In Europe it isn’t, unless the club pays off the remaininder.
What are Osorio and Agoos thinking? They spent their highest draft pick on Brunner this year (if they didn’t like him, they could have taken Generation Addidas attacking midfielder Eric Avila to fill a void there). Now, a few months after the draft, they apparantly value Andrew Boyens and Chris Leitch to the point that they are willing to let Brunner walk away.
What did Boyens do last year to justify such confidence in him?
So he was offered a developmental contract to have the opportunity to evolve into a senior roster player like he already was once?
Darwin would be totally against this. The theory of evolution-devolution-evolution just doesn’t have the same ring to it.
17k is just a shockingly low salary. They’re basically offering Brunner an unpaid internship with a lunch stipend.. Without wealthy parents, 17k a year is not survivable in the NY area. Much like careers in the arts/fashion/film/journalism, that require periods of working for free or at alarmingly low wages to get the foot in the door, MLS could weed out those of modest means…sad
Good for him, I hope more kids end up doing this, it will make the USL stronger, and if there is no room in MLS for young US & Canadiens then USL should bring these kids in, and maybe get some transfer fees in the future.
MLS is a Mickey Mouse league. The players have horrible rights under the current CBA. After this story, I can’t imagine why any young player would ever sign a contract with them. More and more, young players will completely bypass the league for Euro options or even USL options.
The academies and the reserve team are two different things, so don’t condemn both. The RB academy has helped develop some very good players like Kassel and Exantus. Hopefully we’ll get to see a few of them play for RB over the next couple of years. I’ve only seen one reserve game, so I won’t jump to any conclusions about the level of play there.
I really do hope there is a balanced approach that can keep the league on a growth tract from a finanical perspective while still providing more money for salaries and roster spots once the new CBI is discussed. Don’t want the league to take a step back financially, but teams need more quality depth and to be able to pay a guy like Brunner who could develop into a good player given some time and experience.
Clever Guillermo, good to see that Fire fans are still so clever and original. Moron.
I don’t really care about this…if anything it’s just annoying that they wasted their first pick on a kid that’s never going to play for the club.
What a dick move.
i sure hope the kid didn’t lease an apartment or buy a car based on his first salary only to get screwed by the team. most people would agree that rookies can barely survive financially, especially in the metro new york market, with the chump change the league gives them. the sad part is that reyna’s contract is what it is and this kid is getting screwed. reyna probably spent more on his kid’s birthday party than the team is offering to their first round draft choice. If brunner isn’t the player they thought he was – then they should take the difference out of agoos’ paycheck.
Remember when he was drafted how Osorio stated that there were only a handful of players who could contribute this season in MLS that were drafted, and how he could possibly start this season. So now a few months later Leitch is ahead of him in the pecking order and player released from Toronto is ahead of him? So did we basically waste a draft pick? Who’s at fault here?
What’s even more embarrassing is how a lot of players are choosing USL contracts over MLS because they can provide more money and playing time. MLS academies are a joke. Lower players will always choose USL and work their way up instead of working the reserve team.
Are you sure they hold his rights? If they ripped up his contract and he didn’t sign a new one…that pretty much sounds like being waived to me. He had a contract so he wouldn’t be on the College Protected List.
If offering a waived player a DEV deal assured their rights, surely this would have happened a lot more with guys…not least, say, for Toronto with Andrew Boyens?
Its sad that the salary is that low. And to have signed a contract and then it to get shredded like that is not acceptable. I’m glad he is leaving because if you are a pro athlete and they are only willing to give you 17k a year you leave right away and go to Europe, considering that most people could play in a lower league and still make better money than that.
This is just another example of where MLS and the players union have got to come up with some wiggle room at the bottom of the salary tree.
This is an almost identical, I belive, to that of Tyler Hemming in Toronto – a younger player, not quite ready for prime time but certainly developing as a professional and the teams are forced to let them go over what is in reality a minor amount of money.
I’m not saying blow the salary cap up the league needs it to stay vaiable but those bottom end salaries have got to move if younger American (and Canadian) players are going to get the chance to develop into home grown talents.
You can’t really blame the kid for not accepting the new contract. If you just started a new job expecting to make $44k and then a few months later they said, sorry this guy is better than you are, but you can stay and do the exact same job you were doing yesterday only for a third of the salary I’m sure anyone would say go eff yourself to their employer. He is actually taking it fairly well I think.
@Guillermo
Nothing to “WAHH” about . . it’s not going to hurt the team’s performance, it hurts the kid. It’s a shame, that’s all.
Yet another reason to sign-up for Sons of Ben, ASAP!
It’s a shame. Kid got a bum deal.
Sucks to get out of college, think you’re gonna have a career and be paid adequately for your services, and get downgraded just like that . . pay cut in half more than 50%.
Either Agoos or Osorio said it’d show something about his character if he stuck around, but I think it’s a load of bunk. It’d be one thing if he was offered 17K up front, it’s a different story if he had more than double that coming to him and then they snatched it away, which they did.
“WAHHHHHHHH” – my impersonation of NYRB fans after reading this