David Beckham, whose oversized contract caused Major League Soccer to create exceptions to its salary cap in 2007, now says the ceiling for what teams can pay players should be thrown out altogether.

This season the cap is set at $3.1 million per team or $387,500 per player, although teams can go over those figures to sign as many as three designated players. The league currently has three dozen players who were signed under what was long known as “The Beckham Rule” because it was created to allow the Galaxy to offer Beckham a five-year, $32.5-million deal eight seasons ago.

That contract also gave Beckham the option of owning an MLS expansion franchise -- an option he has exercised by bringing a team to Miami. But he says neither he nor the league can lure the types of players it needs without more flexibility in what those players can be paid.

“We’re restricted with some of the players that you can pay over the wage cap,” he told BeIN Sports. “The salary cap removal is what we’ll work for. Obviously, that’s one of the things that stops a lot of players coming over here, where I think the league and certain cities in this country will attract big-name players.”


Beckham would not tell the network what players he was going after but acknowledged their names would be recognizable.

“I’m not going to mention any players because it’s disrespectful to the players and the teams,” he said. “But we want to bring big players. We have to.”