Post by TSchulz on Aug 9, 2023 13:22:12 GMT
So really all this change would do is allow for a 4th DP and increase salary cap by $1M. During a time when player wage inflation is at an all time high already. This isn't moving the needle for me. I understand the risk of sharply increasing salary cap year over year likely leads to overpaying the bottom half of MLS rosters, but the tactful front offices will avoid these pitfalls and drastically improve the qualities of their teams if they had, say, a $10M cap to work with.
The problem, as I see it, is that we still have plenty of teams, including big ones like Seattle, who aren't maximizing the mechanisms that already exist. You add a 4th DP slot, but how is that going to make Montreal better when they are only using ONE of three DP spots now? MLS needs to find a way to make the deadbeat teams try harder. The Premier League is the most popular in the world because it's high quality but also because it's competitive. Yeah there are only a few teams that can realistically win the title, but Brentford can also beat Man U 4-0. MLS isn't going to get anywhere if only 3-4 teams are worth watching.
Pro/rel is never going to happen, but an easy thing to do would be to cut the number of playoff spots. If the be-all, end-all of the league is finishing 9th in your conference, a lot of teams will only aspire to finishing 9th.
