New Contracts/More Trades - Is This the Longest FC Dallas Offseason Ever?
What is happening. Nkosi Tafari is traded to Los Angeles FC, and Logan Farrington is sticking around.
The big news of the past two days, spreading quickly, is yet another shock to the system of a bunch of FC Dallas fans.
First reported by Josh Gross (@yay_yee) and backed up by the venerable Tom Bogert, Los Angeles FC acquired Nkosi Tafari from FC Dallas.
FC Dallas confirmed the deal today, receiving $300k GAM and an international spot in 2026 in return.
This rumor has been buzzing around fans and staff for a while. Tafari himself has been open to a potential move for a while, though who knows how hard he has been pushing it. The writing has been on the wall as Tafari, though in moments looking like a No. 1 center back in Major League Soccer, has been benched by multiple coaches in key stretches of recent seasons. He has played well and then played poorly.
Was it a system thing? A coach thing? A personality thing? Off the field issues? A stew of those ingredients?
At his height, Tafari played himself potentially into a fringe center back option for the United States Men National Team. And FC Dallas, ever since parting ways with Matt Hedges, have struggled to find a stalwart replacement. Tafari could have fit the bill - he almost did. He’d have games where he looked dominant, with dozens of clearances, and then games where he wilted against the opposition.
Professional soccer is a cruel sport.
Like Jesus Ferreira and Paul Arriola’s departures, Nkosi has a chance to go to a great team and reboot his career. Maybe that venue will prove that he has another gear and more room to grow. We may regret letting him go. Or he may just end up being at best a rotational piece for some team somewhere.
Fans met it with a bunch of disappointment, as Tafari connected well with them and often went out of his way to provoke little spats on the field with opponents. I’ve noticed that Dallas fans really love a player who exudes some attitude, who owns the expectations that Toyota Stadium should be a fortress. His absence from the roster opens the door for someone else to offer that, but in the meanwhile, fans have every right to be disappointed that the Tafari run is over.
Meanwhile, on the positive side of things, Logan Farrington got a fat contract extension. The decision from the FC Dallas front office is a huge vote of confidence in the young striker who blasted out of the SuperDraft to become one of the bright attacking spots in a difficult year. I don’t think the team would have extended him so quickly if they didn’t think there was even more room for growth, potentially even as a replacement if Petar Musa gets sold abroad.
These two moves in one day show the uncharted road the team is on, shedding veteran guys who had become familiar names and faces and developing a new team culture altogether. It’s going to be different. It’s going to feel different.
Logan’s new contract gives us hope though for how this team can meet the uncertainty head on.
And I think the other side of the story is a team that is more rapidly embracing a fresh identity under head coach Eric Quill. You could argue that the team didn’t give Luchi Gonzalez and Nico Estevez enough turnover to bring in their kinds of guys, hoping both of those coaches could work magic with an existing roster. Now, FC Dallas has a war chest of funds, giving them plenty of options to explore in the coming transfer windows. They have fresh faces that have to prove their value to a new head coach and system.
That’s heartening, even if you are not feeling confident about this squad going into 2025.
Let Quill cook.
Let Zanotta cook.
What are your thoughts on these moves for FC Dallas?