Major League Soccer

MLS Salary Cap and highest-paid MLS players

By Hector Garcia

The salary cap in MLS is the budget each team is allowed to devote towards their roster.

The salary cap in MLS is the budget each team is allowed to devote towards their roster.

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The league salary cap will remain at $4.9 million for 2021 and 2022 before slowly increasing to just over $7 million for the 2027 season. General Allocation Money, which can be spent on any player, is set at $1.5 million for 2021 and will slowly increase to just under $4 million for the 2027 season. Targeted Allocation Money, which can only be spent on specific roster acquisitions or player raises, begins 2021 at $2.8 million before slowly decreasing to $2 million in 2027.

Designated Player and Targeted Allocation Money (TAM)

There are some exceptions to the salary cap, specifically outlined by the Designated Player rule and Targeted Allocation Money (TAM). The Designated Player rule allows MLS teams to acquire up to three players whose total compensation exceeds the league’s salary cap protocol. In practice, this rule enables MLS clubs to attract international players through more lucrative contracts. 

For example, while the maximum single salary for a player in a club’s salary budget is $530,000 per year, Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s base salary as a designated player at LA Galaxy was $7.2 million.

Target allocation money (TAM) is a more recent league development. It essentially allows teams to sign or re-sign a non-designated player at a higher rate than that designated under the salary cap. TAM can also be used to convert a designated player to a non-designated player by buying down his salary to at or below the designated player threshold.  If TAM is used to free up a designated player slot, the club must simultaneously sign a new designated player.

Top 10 Highest Paid MLS Players

The Major League Soccer Players Association (MLSPA) released the 2021 player salary data last October for every player in MLS. The players who earned the most for the 2021 MLS season were:

Inter Miami, Toronto FC, and Atlanta United are the only teams with two or more players in the top 10. 

The MLSPA lists Blaise Matuidi as being paid $1.5 million, however, due to some solid reporting from The Athletic, Jorge Mas confirmed he’s making between $5.2 and $5.6 million per season, which would make him the league’s 4th highest-paid player.

Alan Pulido is the highest-paid Sporting Kansas City player and he comes in at 23rd. Daniel Salloi, who was in the running for MLS MVP before going down with an ankle injury, makes only $456,667, which makes him the league’s 232nd highest-paid player.

There are now 81 players in the league making at least $1 million. Outside of millionaires, league pay is still pretty solid overall, with the average pay now at $418,365. The median pay is $200,000, which doesn’t paint as rosy of a picture but is still progress on a league that not all too long ago didn’t pay its players a living wage. The reserve minimum salary is now $63,547, which is primarily filled up with Homegrowns and draft picks.

2021 MLS Salaries by Team

Club Guaranteed Salaries:


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