The New England Revolution and Lee Nguyen have agreed to a contract extension today. The Revs midfielder put pen to paper at the start of a live Facebook video segment before answering a few fan questions.
Details of the contract are not known, though Kyle McCarthy has tweeted that the Revs will likely use Targeted Allocation Money in the new deal.
New England expected to use TAM on Lee Nguyen's new contract. #MLS
— Kyle McCarthy (@kylejmccarthy) March 18, 2016
TAM is a new mechanism in MLS. In this case it appears the Revolution will resign Nguyen and pay him more than the maximum budget charge which is over $457,000 this season. By using TAM, the club will buy down Lee's contract to a number that is under the cap, theoretically opening up more space for a player like Xavier Kouassi down the road or a new signing.
"Lee is an important member of this Club and we're pleased we were able to reach a new agreement with him," Revolution General Manager Michael Burns said in the team's press release. "He is a player who has the ability to make players around him better and we've all seen his game develop incrementally since he joined us in 2012. We look forward to his continued contributions on the field and have no doubt he will assume an even larger leadership role for New England both on and off the field."
Nguyen, also a United States international, has been with New England since being claimed off waivers in 2012. Nguyen was an MLS MVP finalist in 2014 following an 18-goal, 5-assist season where the Revs reached the MLS Cup Final. Lee has totaled 34 goals and 24 assists during his time in New England playing in 129 total regular season games making 124 starts.
This is tremendous news for a Revolution team that declined to resign Jermaine Jones in the offseason and traded his rights to Colorado. With new Designated Player Xavier Kouassi potentially sidelined this summer with injury, this move likely gives the Revolution more room to make signings under the salary cap. In the long term, it keeps the Revs and USMNT playmaker in Foxborough for the forseeable future.
We will update this story with more information if necessary.