As first reported by The Athletic and independently confirmed with my own sources, Jesus Ferreira has signed a new contract with FC Dallas for just under $2 mil a year. The contract runs through 2025 with a club option for 2026.
Ferreira will now be the second DP player on the FC Dallas roster along with Franco Jara.
Ferreira is coming off, arguably, an MVP-type season for FC Dallas 8 goals and 9 assists.
According to our sources, there have been some European teams sniffing around Ferreira but the new contract should keep him in Dallas for a few seasons at least.
3rd Degree’s Take
Wonderful re-signing. Hopefully, fans clamoring for FC Dallas to keep some of the club’s best Homegrowns will see this as a step in the right direction. I certainly do.
Ferreira was already on $550k per season so this new deal will have very little salary cap impact with most of the raise coming out of the Hunts’ own pocket (or the franchises).
As pointed out by Peter Welpton, this makes Ferreira the first player from the FC Dallas Academy to earn a Designated Player contract with FCD.
Young DP?
It will be interesting to see how Ferreira shows up on the real FCD roster. DP or Young DP?
By the letter of the published rule, he should be a young DP.
A Designated Player who is 23 years old (or younger than the age of 23) during the League Year (the age of the player is determined by year – not date – of birth) will carry the following Young Designated Player Salary Budget Charge:
MLS Rules
Ages 20 and younger: $150,000
Ages 21-23: $200,000
So if he is a young DP, this deal will actually save FC Dallas a ton of cap money. From $550k+ (He probably was going up for 2022) to just $200k.
What are differences between young DP and U-22? Isn’t the cap hit about the same?
A U22 Int player can’t already be signed to an MLS contract, they have to be from outside MLS…
AND a U22 Int player can’t be paid more than the DP base cap number. In other words, they need to make over the U22 Int number of $200k but less than DP hit of $612k.
Thanks
Love the move for the club and for Jesus. It definitely shows that it isn’t necessarily Europe-or-bust for Homegrowns, and hopefully Jesus will come into the season with a little extra juice knowing that the club has put their money being him.
From an off-field perspective, and with Pepi gone, I will be curious to see who FCD turns to as their figurehead. Ferreira seems to check all the boxes:
– Son of a legendary FCD player
– Homegrown talent
– Getting minutes with USMNT
– Plays an exciting, attacking style