After a process that began early in the offseason, former Rapids goalkeeper Matt Pickens has landed at the Tampa Bay Rowdies, in a series of transactions that included a quick stop at the New England Revolution. The end result, according to Rapids VP of Soccer Operations and Technical Director Paul Bravo, was “the best possible outcome for all the parties involved.”

“This solution ended up working for everyone,” said Bravo. “Ultimately, we were most interested in helping Matt find the right situation for him, based on everything he gave our club. We think this is a good situation for us and we’re glad that it worked out.”

The reason it ended up aiding Colorado is that the Rapids will now receive the full salary cap relief for what was owed to Matt Pickens in 2014, which will allow the club more flexibility with the roster.

“We knew that Tampa Bay was interested in Matt, and if he had gone directly from the Rapids to the Rowdies, or even stayed with New England, we would’ve only received partial salary cap relief,” said Bravo. “Once the transfer was completed to Tampa Bay, that meant that we would save the full amount.”

“This allows us to do a number of things, both in the short and longer terms. We’ll be able to re-sign players that deserve new deals here, and we can also be a little more aggressive in bringing in additional players,” continued Bravo.

With league policy preventing the clubs from disclosing any of the hard numbers involved in the transactions, Bravo noted that it was smart business from New England that ultimately benefitted everyone.

“This is good for New England and good for the Rowdies, but most importantly it’s good for both the Rapids and Matt,” said Bravo.

The Technical Director stated that he hopes to make other roster announcements in the next week or so, using some of the salary cap space saved in this deal.