Photo by ISIphotos.com
MLS released its latest round of player and team salaries earlier this week. To no one's surprise, David Beckham, Thierry Henry and Rafa Marquez were among the best-paid players in the league while the New York Red Bulls and Los Angeles Galaxy were the two clubs with the highest payrolls.
Still, there were plenty of interesting salaries among some of the newcomers in the league, including that of Tim Cahill.
According to the salaries released by the MLS Players Union, Cahill is the fourth-highest paid player in MLS. Cahill, who arrived in late July from Premiership club Everton, earns a base salary of $3.5 million, putting him just ahead of Galaxy forward Robbie Keane ($3.4 million) but behind Marquez ($4.6 million), Beckham ($4 million) and Henry ($5.6 million).
Another talented newcomer, Columbus Crew striker Federico Higuain, comes at a much cheaper price. Higuain's base salary for this season is $160,000, which is less than what fellow Crew players Will Hesmer, Chad Marshall and Eddie Gaven make. That trio makes $170,000, $310,00 and $190,000, respectively.
There were plenty of other bargains amongst the newcomers, too.
Seattle Sounders goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann's base salary is $60,000 this season, while Red Bulls duo Luis Robles and Digao (Kaka's brother) are earning $40,000 and $90,000, respectively. San Jose Earthquakes forward Marcus Tracy is making $44,000 and Oriol Rosell is set to receive $90,000 from Sporting Kansas City this year.
On the other end of the spectrum are guys like Colorado Rapids midfielder Hendry Thomas ($187,800), Houston Dynamo's Ricardo Clark ($260,000), Darren O'Dea ($330,000) of Toronto FC and the Los Angeles Galaxy's Christian Wilhelmsson ($168,000).
——-
What do you think of the latest round of MLS salaries? Find it more absurd that the Red Bulls have three of the top four highest-paid players in the league, or that Marquez alone is making $4.6 million for barely playing? How big of a steal is Higuain at that price?
Share your thoughts below.