So a homegrown player is a player that has spent at least one year in your academy, that’s pretty easy! So, why does it have its own special name?

MLS has a whole host of rules about how a player can sign with a new MLS team. It feels like there are a dozen different mechanisms and drafts. Just like the NFL and MLB, there is a player draft known as the “SuperDraft” for new, young players entering the league. Most of these players are college players and others are playing in summer amateur leagues like the PDL (Cincinnati Dutch Lions) or the NPSL (Detroit City FC).

The homegrown player rule makes sure MLS teams are able to sign their academy players without having to subject them to the draft. Otherwise, there would be no point in running an academy if another team could come in and draft your players!

So, homegrown players are academy players who have lived in the teams region that don’t have to go through the draft to end up on the roster of the team that trained them. That’s probably simple enough, right? Well, let's throw in another wrench, the homegrown player won’t count against the salary cap.

Salary Cap Impact

If you remember from the previous entries in this series, an MLS roster is made up of between 18 and 30 players. And it turns out, the “roster spot number” so-to-speak, actually matters.

There are Senior Roster spots, which are spots 1-20. And there are Supplemental Roster Spots, 21-24.

If a homegrown player takes up a senior roster spot, again that is spots 1 through 20, their salary will count against the salary cap. But if they take up a supplemental roster spot, spots 21-24, their salary doesn’t count against the salary cap!

Quick note here, anyone in a roster spot between 1 and 20 has to be paid a minimum of $67,500 a year, and a maximum of $504,375. If they go over the $504,375 number, they have to be a designated player. For anyone in roster spot between 21 and 24, it’s the same minimum but the maximum comes down to $192,500.

Before we continue, let's recap:

MLS roster of 18 to 30 dudes. Spots 1-20 are senior roster spots, players here are making between $67,500 and $504,375 a year, unless they are a designated player. A homegrown player is a player that has spent at least one year with an MLS team’s academy and is signed to that same MLS team without having to go through the draft. If the Homegrown player takes up a roster spot between 1 and 20, their salary counts against the salary cap of $4,035,000. If the homegrown player takes up a roster spot between 21 and 24, they do not count against the salary cap and make between $67,500 and $192,500 a year.