The conversation between Graham Zusi, Roger Espinoza, and Matt Besler started last offseason as the trio of Sporting Kansas City veterans prepared for what they all knew would be a pivotal season. Each player was entering the final year of his contract with Kansas City and were set to enter free agency after the 2018 season.



At least, that’s what they thought.



“We found out pretty quickly it was limited,” Zusi told The Athletic after a training session with the MLS All-Star team last week in Atlanta.



It turns out free agency is not so free if you’re a highly-paid player in MLS.



In 2015, the most recent year that the MLS Players Union negotiated a collective bargaining agreement with the league, the deal hinged on two major issues: increasing the salary cap and creating some form of free agency. The union focused mostly on the latter, hoping to create options for players in a league whose single-entity structure restricts...