Breaking down Rodrigo De Paul's move to Miami
Why it's a move that I am absolutely for and falls within the bounds of the MLS Rulebook
Inter Miami, by all reports, has agreed to sign Rodrigo De Paul to a deal to bring him into South Beach for the remainder of the 2025 season. There’s a lot more to unpack than just the signing; the salary implications, what does it make of the league, and how fans are reacting. Go through any post that talks about this move, and almost always, the comments are about how the league is giving Miami and Leo Messi preferential treatment.
Are they? Is this a move that breaks MLS?
Let’s dive into the mechanics of how this move is done and my commentary on the situation.
If you’re a reader of FAM, you’ll know that I called out this exact scenario when talking about the reported links to Brian Rodriguez back in June. I wrote about the New England Revolution loaning Tomas Chancalay for six months before purchasing his deal, converting him into a full-time Designated Player. Chancalay was bought for a reported $3.1M, and was signed to a three-year deal. His salary for the last two seasons has been around $1M. To break down why he is a full DP, I’ve provided the rough back-of-the-envelope equation below:
That $2M across his deal is greater than the TAM threshold ($1.743M), which is the limit needed for players to be bought down by TAM. Essentially, the team was able to keep Carles Gil, Gustavo Bou, and Giacomo Vironi all together before Bou departed in the off-season, opening up the spot for Chancalay once the spot was open.
Sound familiar?
Pep Biel for Charlotte is another example of a team maneuvering through the roster designations. Biel was a full-designated player in 2024. The team extended his loan in 2025, where he is currently sitting as a TAM player with a purchase-to-buy option in 2026. I’m willing to bet that a transfer will convert him to a full DP, but no one will bat an eye at it.
The Rodrigo De Paul deal is structured in the same way. De Paul will more than likely come in as a TAM player, and in 2026, Miami will exercise a buy option, and he will have to be a full DP. Is this totally allowed in the rules? Absolutely; only the loan fee is factored into the budget charge for De Paul. He will have to take on a lower salary (or have it part of it paid by Atletico Madrid), fit in the TAM number (very doable) and boom, he’s on the roster without forcing any DP off the roster.
Look, any other team can do this. Can they do something specifically with a player like Rodrigo De Paul? Probably not. I’m not going to sit here and deny that Miami has advantages that other teams don’t. They have Leo Messi, of course there’s going to be perks when it comes to player interest. But I just gave two examples where Charlotte and New England, two teams that aren’t the big LA teams or Miami, were able to make a similar move. Seattle has structured some of its big-name players with contracts that can escalate to full DP levels, but are currently not.
MLS has these restrictive roster rules that are difficult to navigate. All of us are trying to keep tabs on estimated player budget charges, GAM left over, and more. I can almost promise you that all of us are guaranteed to be wrong for many reasons. There are so many rules that come into play that aren’t explicitly listed in the public-facing rules. The budget charge rule is pretty clear, though. It’s just the fees paid for that year, plus guaranteed comp. Keep the budget charge below that TAM number, and you’re good to go.
If anything, Miami should be applauded for the effort they’ve made to acquire so much allocation money, five additional international spots, and the flexibility to even be in this position to begin with. They sold Diego Gomez and were able to convert his fee into GAM. They then acquired $2M in 2025 GAM from New England for Leo Campana. I mean, the move itself is what’s virtually funding all of Miami’s current GAM amount, according to the latest roster profiles. They will also get applied pro-rated GAM back for David Martinez, their CB who went back to River Plate after his loan.
Now, Miami is in a spot to max out a TAM player spot, buy it down with GAM or whatever mechanism they want to do, and improve its roster, while keeping its star happy. Glance at some of the GAM situations across the league, and you can see who is attempting to maximize them (Miami, Cincinnati) and who isn’t.
Again, this is all within the bounds of the rules. No rule is being broken, just like no rule was broken for Biel and Chancalay. Nowhere does it say that the future purchase price has to be included in the player’s budget charge. I’m all for teams pushing the boundaries of the league office and trying to get the best players into the league, even if it’s a deal for six months, and another player will leave.
I understand the fan pushback; it seems like Miami is getting the benefit of everything in this moment. Here’s the kicker, though. Your team can do something like this, too.
They’re just choosing not to.
Thanks for reading and please don’t forget to subscribe! Share your opinions below. What are your thoughts on Miami’s signing of De Paul?
I love when teams get creative with the roster rules. Like you said, every team should be doing this. The Matuidi situation definitely hasn't helped Miami's PR in these types of scenarios though.
Do you have any insight on if the amounts that they are paying for De Paul and to De Paul are reasonable? Given that they have tried to make off book payments to players in the past (and gotten caught) I am sure that the league scrutinizes their finances pretty closely.