The Houston Dynamo have acquired General Allocation Money from Vancouver Whitecaps FC in a trade for defender Sheanon Williams, the two clubs announced today.

“We’d like to thank Sheanon for his contributions during his time in Houston and wish him well moving forward,” said Dynamo Vice President and General Manager Matt Jordan.

General Allocation Money is money that is available to a club in addition to its salary budget. Each MLS club receives an annual allotment of General Allocation Money, which can be traded by clubs. Allocation Money can be used to “buy-down” a player’s salary budget charge as part of managing a team’s roster, including buying a salary budget charge below the League maximum of $457,500.

General Allocation Money can also be used to sign players new to MLS (that is, a player who did not play in MLS during the previous season); to re-sign an existing MLS player; to off-set acquisition costs (loan and transfer fees); in connection with the extension of a player’s contract for the second year provided the player was new to MLS in the immediately prior year; or to reduce the Salary Budget Charge of a Designated Player to a limit of $150,000.

For a full explanation of General Allocation Money, please read Major League Soccer’s Rules & Regulations.

Following the trade and Tuesday’s Major League Soccer Expansion Draft, the Dynamo currently have 15 players under contract for the 2017 season.

Houston Dynamo players currently under contract:

Goalkeepers (3): Calle Brown, Tyler Deric, Joe Willis

Defenders (3): Agus, Jalil Anibaba, Kevin Garcia

Midfielders (6): Alex, Eric Alexander, Ricardo Clark, Boniek García, Christian Lucatero, Andrew Wenger

Forwards (3): Will Bruin, Mauro Manotas, Erick Torres*

*Currently on loan

TRANSACTION: Houston Dynamo acquire General Allocation Money from Vancouver Whitecaps FC in exchange for D Sheanon Williams on Dec. 12, 2016.