depart the New York Red Bulls this winter<\/a> with his contract expiring. Coronel could head abroad, but he has options in MLS this winter \u2013 including interest from Orlando City, sources briefed on the situation say.<\/p>\nCoronel, who turns 29 this month, is in his prime. He was the Red Bulls\u2019 starter for the last five seasons, leading the club on a memorable playoff run to the 2024 MLS Cup final.<\/p>\n
If it\u2019s not Orlando, then any team that needs a goalkeeper this winter should have Coronel on their list.<\/p>\n
![\"Nashville](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/USATSI_27410124-scaled.jpg\")
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\n USMNT veteran Walker Zimmerman could be headed elsewhere this winter in MLS (Sam Navarro \/ Imagn Images)<\/p>\n
CB Walker Zimmerman (Nashville SC)<\/p>\n
Zimmerman won MLS Defender of the Year twice during his time with Nashville, while he has been named to MLS Best XI five times in his career. While Zimmerman is not at his peak, he is still a very good center back.<\/p>\n
At 32 and at this stage of his career, the U.S. international is best in a team that defends a little bit deeper.<\/p>\n
FC Dallas and Toronto FC are two clubs who may be in the mix for Zimmerman, per sources briefed on the situation. Both need defensive upgrades, and Zimmerman\u2019s impact on a team both on and off the field is hugely beneficial.<\/p>\n
Zimmerman began his career with Dallas, part of the team that won the U.S. Open Cup and Supporters\u2019 Shield in 2016. He won the 2019 Shield with LAFC, the club\u2019s first trophy, then helped guide Nashville to its first trophy this year, the U.S. Open Cup.<\/p>\n
MF Paul Rothrock (Seattle Sounders)<\/p>\n
Rothrock is an extremely interesting free agent who could fit a number of clubs. At 26, he\u2019s in his prime. Rothrock will have a ton of options because of his quality, age and salary control.<\/p>\n
Rothrock can create off the dribble, and his workrate is nonstop. Being an overqualified fourth-best attacker for any team is a perfect spot for Rothrock, as his intelligent movement opens space for himself and teammates.<\/p>\n
Other MLS teams outside of Seattle, his incumbent club, are capped to offer him the maximum budget charge (which was $743,750 in 2025). These limits are determined by the CBA and changes per tier depending on the salary on which a player enters free agency.<\/p>\n
Rothrock had four goals and seven assists for the Sounders in the regular season. The club would like to keep him but hasn\u2019t found an agreement.<\/p>\n
MF Hassani Dotson (Minnesota United)<\/p>\n
Dotson requested a trade from Minnesota earlier this year when contract talks stalled, but unfortunately picked up a long-term injury early in the season.<\/p>\n
Now, he\u2019s out of contract and available to sign elsewhere and is the top box-to-box or deep-lying midfielder on the market.<\/p>\n
Dotson, 28, was selected in the 2019 MLS SuperDraft by the Loons and went on to make 176 appearances for the club, a constant presence over the last seven seasons. He is expected to generate a lot of interest around the league.<\/p>\n
![\"Minnesota](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/USATSI_27365930-scaled.jpg\")
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\n Robin Lod remains in talks with Minnesota United but could leave after six-and-a-half seasons with the club (Kelvin Kuo \/ Imagn Images)<\/p>\n
MF Robin Lod (Minnesota United)<\/p>\n
Minnesota remains in talks to keep Lod, but no agreement has yet been reached. As of now, he\u2019s set to enter free agency.<\/p>\n
Lod is the best attack-minded central midfielder available in free agency. He can also play a little deeper as well. The Finland international has 12 goals and 21 assists over the last two seasons.<\/p>\n
The 32-year-old has been durable, too, appearing in all but three of a possible 68 regular season games over that span.<\/p>\n
GK Sean Johnson (Toronto FC)<\/p>\n
Even at 36, Johnson is a starting-level goalkeeper in MLS. His underlying numbers remained strong in 2025 for a Toronto team in transition.<\/p>\n
Johnson is a short-term plan for any team looking for a new GK, though the market is saturated with free agent options.<\/p>\n
Johnson won MLS Cup with NYCFC in 2021, earning MVP honors in the final. He spent years with Chicago and NYCFC before joining Toronto in 2023 and has made 418 regular season appearances in MLS.<\/p>\n
Best of the rest by positionGoalkeepers<\/p>\n
Pedro Gallese (Orlando City), Joe Willis (Nashville SC), Maxime Crepeau (Portland Timbers)<\/p>\n
It\u2019s an incredibly strong year for free agent goalkeepers. The group is led by the trio listed above. Vancouver\u2019s Yohei Takaoka is out of contract as well but doesn\u2019t qualify for free agency, so he could be available, too.<\/p>\n
Beyond that you still have Gallese, Willis and Cr\u00e9peau, tested starters in this league who still should have something to give.<\/p>\n
Gallese, 35, and Willis, 37, are likely short-term signings due to the stage of their careers, while Cr\u00e9peau, 31, was benched by the Timbers this year.<\/p>\n
Center backs<\/p>\n
Dario Zuparic (Portland Timbers), Julio Cascante (Austin FC)<\/p>\n
Center back is top heavy and gets thin on the free agent market this year, though Zuparic and Cascante can help potential new teams. Both had long been at the same club and will benefit from a change of scenery.<\/p>\n
Cascante, 32, has been in MLS since 2018 and has racked up 192 appearances between Portland and Austin, the latter of which where he spent the last five seasons.<\/p>\n
Zuparic, 33, made 182 appearances for Portland over the last six seasons.<\/p>\n
Neither makes much sense for high-pressing teams, but can be rotational options for teams that defend a bit deeper.<\/p>\n
Fullbacks<\/p>\n
Brooks Lennon (Atlanta United), Brandon Bye (New England Revolution)<\/p>\n
There are a few potential starters to be found at fullback.<\/p>\n
The Revs still would like to retain Bye, but the two sides are not close on a new deal. Lennon, who has been with Atlanta since 2020, should also have options around the league.<\/p>\n
Defensive midfielders<\/p>\n
Mark-Anthony Kaye (San Jose Earthquakes), Jo\u00e3o Paulo (Seattle Sounders)<\/p>\n
Defensive midfield is light for 2026 free agents, but both of these veterans remain excellent in possession. Ball-dominant teams would make sense as fits for both.<\/p>\n
Attacking midfielders<\/p>\n
Erik Thommy (Sporting Kansas City), Bryce Duke (CF Montr\u00e9al), Eryk Williamson (Charlotte FC), Yuya Kubo (FC Cincinnati), Sebastian Lletget (FC Dallas)<\/p>\n
Attacking midfield options are robust, while many of these players can play in a box-to-box role as well.<\/p>\n
With many teams using DP spots on attacking midfielders, pathways to playing time are always at a premium for players in this position who aren\u2019t stars, but those in this group can add to teams for the right price.<\/p>\n
Wingers<\/p>\n
Diego Fagundez (LA Galaxy), Corey Baird (San Diego FC), Fafa Picault (Inter Miami)<\/p>\n
At time of writing, there has been no new deal done for Fagundez with the LA Galaxy nor Baird with San Diego. Both teams are working to keep them at their respective clubs.<\/p>\n
Fagundez, 30, debuted in MLS in 2011 and is still a productive player. He had nine goal contributions in each of the last two seasons with the Galaxy and can play a number of roles.<\/p>\n
Baird became a starter for San Diego after joining from Cincinnati this summer. The SoCal native looked good in the club\u2019s high-tempo, possession-based system.<\/p>\n
Center forwards<\/p>\n
Willy Agada (Real Salt Lake), Josef Mart\u00ednez (San Jose Earthquakes), Mikael Uhre (Philadelphia Union)<\/p>\n
Both have cases to be among the top 10 available free agents, but MLS clubs spend most of their money at center forward, and there aren\u2019t enough obvious starting spots for them to find.<\/p>\n
Each does different things well. Mart\u00ednez scores more goals but isn\u2019t a player that can play in a pressing system at this stage. San Jose struggled defensively for numerous reasons, but it didn\u2019t help that Mart\u00ednez (and Chicho Arango) didn\u2019t do much against the ball. Martinez, 32, scored 14 goals in 1,874 regular season minutes last year, both his highest totals since a devastating knee injury in 2020.<\/p>\n
Agada, meanwhile, struggled to find the back of the net with Real Salt Lake this year, but he makes smart runs and is more active against the ball. The 26-year-old had just two goals this year but had 10 (in 1,729 minutes) in 2024.<\/p>\n
Uhre would be in the top 10 available free agents, but the likelihood appears that he will return to Europe. If he would entertain staying in MLS, then he\u2019d be a strong option in free agency.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MLS free agency officially opens on Wednesday at 1 p.m. ET, when teams are allowed to negotiate with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":87910,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[43957,8064,12815,43945,43947,43956,12817,43952,12818,11444,43955,12820,9494,43953,32885,11203,43958,43948,43946,43950,43949,43951,6533,11445,1254,88,1084,90,89,12816,1083,43954,43959,12819,40873],"class_list":["post-87909","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-jose","tag-atlanta-united-fc","tag-austin-fc","tag-charlotte-fc","tag-chicago-fire","tag-club-de-foot-montreal","tag-colorado-rapids","tag-columbus-crew","tag-dc-united","tag-fc-cincinnati","tag-fc-dallas","tag-houston-dynamo","tag-inter-miami-cf","tag-los-angeles-fc","tag-los-angeles-galaxy","tag-minnesota-united-fc","tag-mls","tag-nashville-soccer-club","tag-new-england-revolution","tag-new-york-city-fc","tag-new-york-red-bulls","tag-orlando-city-sc","tag-philadelphia-union","tag-portland-timbers","tag-real-salt-lake","tag-san-diego-fc","tag-san-jose","tag-san-jose-earthquakes","tag-san-jose-headlines","tag-san-jose-news","tag-seattle-sounders-fc","tag-soccer","tag-sporting-kc","tag-st-louis-city-sc","tag-toronto-fc","tag-vancouver-whitecaps-fc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87909","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87909"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87909\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87909"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"NYCFC's](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/USATSI_27453090-scaled.jpg\")
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