The New England Revolution have announced their first major roster update of the off-season, detailing which players options have been picked up for 2016.
The Revs exercised options on backup keeper Brad Knighton; defenders Darrius Barnes, Andrew Farrell, Jose Goncalves, Donnie Smith, Chris Tierney, and London Woodberry; midfielders Teal Bunbury, Scott Caldwell, Diego Fagundez, Lee Nguyen, Kelyn Rowe; and forward Charlie Davies.
Already under contract for 2016 were starting keeper Bobby Shuttleworth, forward Juan Agudelo and homegrown midfielder Zachary Herivaux. Midfielder Daigo Kobayashi has agreed to a new contract and will return for his third season in New England.
Players who did not have their options exercised were goalkeeper Trever Spangenberg; defenders Kevin Alston and Jeremy Hall; and midfielders Timi Mulgrew, Steve Neumann, and Tyler Rudy.
Also, midfielders Jermaine Jones and Andy Dorman are currently out of contract. According to the release, per Major League Soccer rules, the Revolution have until Thursday, Dec. 10 to re-sign any re-entry draft eligible players, including players whose options were not exercised.
That means it is still possible for the Revolution to re-sign the players whose options they declined or are out of contract to new deals. Those conversations are ongoing per Jeff Lemieux:
But, Burns did say Revs "are in active conversations with at least a couple players to try to bring back." Didn't say whom specifically.
— Jeff Lemieux (@jeff_lemieux) November 25, 2015
Burns on JJ: "We've had a lot of conversations w/ Jermaine's representative ... He's a player that we would certainly like to have back."
— Jeff Lemieux (@jeff_lemieux) November 25, 2015
It would make a lot of sense for the Revolution to bring back Steve Neumann, or at worst, find a suitable trade for him within MLS. Both Kevin Alston and Jeremy Hall had good stints at right back this year and it would seem likely that one of the two could make a return to the roster. Declining the options on Mulgrew and Rudy for now means that Donnie Smith remains the lone graduate of the Rochester Rhinos loanees.
But Smith and Okoli returning was not a tremendous shock because of an earlier report that the two would be among a Revolution contingent training, which was later confirmed by the club, with European club partner Sporting CP. Zach Herivaux, Jay Heaps and Mike Burns are also on the list going over to Portugal.
The big question remains Jermaine Jones, who is seeking a long term deal, possibly through the 2018 season and current World Cup cycle. Jones missed half the season dealing with two separate sports hernias but the team was still far more effective when he was on the active roster.
With both Jones and Andy Dorman out of contract, the Revolution are now very thin at defensive midfielder. Combined with questions at centerback behind Goncalves and Farrell, the center of the Revs defensive corps will need to be addressed this offseason. The Revs pick 10th in the first round of the 2016 MLS SuperDraft,R which is January 14th. New England will open preseason on January 22nd and will have a training stint in Arizona before participating in the Desert Diamond Cup again in 2016.