On Thursday, D.C. United and the rest of MLS’s clubs will get a shot at the second round of the Re-Entry Draft. How does this differ from the first round? To keep things brief, the first round obliges you to sign the player as is. The second round is more just the right to negotiate a new deal; generally speaking, you’re looking to sign a player for less than he made the previous year.
It’s unsurprisingly the more popular round of the Re-Entry Draft. The three players taken last week pushed the grand total of players selected in the first round to 19; that’s not even an average of three players per draft.