As per roster requirements Atlanta United has finalized and released their roster with their player designations announced. The squad is required to fit within some very strict roster rules and regulations for the upcoming MLS season.
Senior Roster
​Slot Number | Name | Category | ​Designation | Contract |
1 | Abram | Senior | INTL,TAM | 2026 |
2 | Almada | Senior | INTL,Young DP | 2026 |
3 | Alonso | Senior | ​ | 2023 |
4 | Araujo | Senior | INTL, DP | 2026 |
5 | Berry | Senior | ​ | 2023 |
6 | Etienne Jr. | Senior | TAM | 2027 |
7 | Giakoumakis | Senior | INTL, DP | 2026 |
8 | Gutman | Senior | ​ | 2024 |
9 | Guzan | Senior | ​ | 2025 |
10 | Hernandez | Senior | INTL | 2025 |
11 | Ibarra | Senior | U-22 | 2025 |
12 | Lennon | Senior | TAM | 2026 |
13 | Lopez | Senior | U-22 | 2025 |
14 | Purata | Senior | INTL | Loan Through 2023 |
15 | Robinson | Senior | TAM | 2023 |
16 | Rossetto | Senior | TAM | 2023 |
17 | Sosa | Senior | U-22 | 2025 |
18 | Westberg | Senior | ​ | 2023 |
19 & 20 | Open | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Supplemental Roster
Slot Number | Name | Category | Designation | Contract |
21 | Diop | Supplemental 21-24 | ​ | 2024 |
22 | McFadden | Supplemental 21-24 | ​ | 2024 |
23 | Sejdic | Supplemental 21-24 | ​ | 2025 |
24 | Open | Supplemental 21-24 | ​ | ​ |
25 | Chol | Supplemental 25-28 | HG | 2025 |
26 | Conway | Supplemental 25-28 | HG | 2024 |
27 | Wiley | Supplemental 25-28 | HG | 2026 |
28 | Wolff | Supplemental 25-28 | HG | 2025 |
29 | Cobb | Supplemental 29-30 | HG | 2027 |
30 | Fortune | Supplemental 29-30 | HG | 2026 |
2023 Loans
Name | Roster Category | ​Designation | Contract |
Barco | On Loan through 2023 | Young DP | ​2023 |
Centeno | Season-Long Loan | GA | ​2026 |
Garces | Season-Long Loan | HG | ​2025 |
Morales | Season-Long Loan | HG | ​2025 |
Moreno | Season-Long Loan | TAM | ​2025 |
Mosquera | Season-Long Loan | INTL, U-22 | ​2026 |
All players can have options in their contracts, as well.
Designations:
DP: Designated Player
GA: Generation Adidas
HG: Homegrown
INTL: International
TAM: Targeted Allocation Money
U-22: Under-22
Young DP: Young Designated Player
Basic Roster Rules
The Senior roster will contain up to 20 people and must fall within the club's 2022 Salary Budget of $4,900,000. Each player must fall within the individual Maximum Salary Budget of $612,500. In the supplemental roster players must fall into tight restrictions around salary, including either meeting the minimum salary requirement or qualifying for a number of salary designations.
Player Designations:
-Homegrown Players: Homegrown players must qualify as domestic and come from the academy. There is also no limit to the number of Homegrown players that may occupy either a supplemental or senior roster slot. They may earn in aggregate up to $125,000 dollars annually.
-International Players: International player slots are tradeable roster slots with 8 allocated to each of the league's 28 clubs. They must be occupied by any non-US players.
-Generation Adidas: A collaboration between MLS and Adidas to promote young talent into the MLS.
-Designated Player: A player with no salary cap and that doesn't count against the total team salary cap, but there is a charge against the team salary cap of $612,500 (or $306,250 if the player is acquired in the secondary transfer window) . Each team gets 3 slots and the players can be traded which then opens up that slot.
-Young Designated Player: A player who is 23 years or younger will be able to qualify for a Young DP slot and won't have his salary counted against the salary cap, but he will have a salary budget charge of $150,000 if he is 20 or younger or a charge of $200,000 in he is 21-23 years old.
-Additional DP rules: Clubs are automatically granted two DP slots and are allowed to buy a third from the league for $150,000 which is split and given to all clubs with 2 or less DPs in the form of GAM. The team will not have to pay the fee, though, if the third DP is a Young DP. The DP slots are not tradeable.
-U22 Initiative Roster Slots: Teams are allocated three of these slots, unless they have all three DP players as full DPs (not Young DPs) and they are all payed over $1,612,500 in which case they will have only one U22 initiative slot. The U22 players also must only receive up to $200,000 in compensation unless they fall under other specific roster rules regarding super draft players.
GAM and TAM:
Gam is a tradeable currency which each club receives in the form of an annual allotment of $1,625,000. It can be used to buy down player contracts and to sign players. TAM is a currency used for signing players, Homegrown players, and bringing DP players' salaries down to below designated player levels. Each club is allocated $2,720,000.
2022 Salary Budget Information:
Club Salary Budget - $4,900,000
Maximum Salary Budget Charge - $612,500
Senior Minimum Salary - $84,000
Reserve Minimum Salary - $65,500
Designated Player Salary Budget Charge - $612,500
Second Designated Player Salary Budget Charge - $612,500
Third Designated Player Salary Budget Charge - $612,500
Young Designated Player Budget Charge (20 years old or younger during the League Year) - $150,000
Young Designated Player Budget Charge (21-23 years old during the League Year) - $200,000
Mid-Season Designated Player Salary Budget Charge - $306,250
Mid-Season Young Designated Player Salary Budget Charge (23 years old and younger) - $150,000
Maximum Targeted Allocation Money Amount - $1,612,500
U22 Spot Budget Charge (20 years old or younger during the League Year) - $150,000
U22 Spot Budget Charge (21-23 years old during the League Year) - $200,000
Available Slots:
Unless they were traded away we still have available:
2 International slots
Any TAM left
Theoretically infinite Homegrown slots
It turns out that Garth Lagerwey has lived up to the expectations placed upon him as far as roster maintenance, in which he had made lots of statements about the importance of getting the roster back in order. Atlanta United has appropriately taken advantage of the available slots to fulfill the required MLS roster compliance rules.