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In what has been a fairly quiet silly season thus far, we finally have a rumor of a new potential signing. Jeff Carlisle, a soccer columnist for ESPN, tweeted out this morning that sources have told ESPN that Scott Caldwell has agreed to join Real Salt Lake this offseason pending approval from the league office.
Sources tell ESPN that former #NERevs midfielder Scott Caldwell is set to join #RSL. Just awaiting league approval on paperwork. Same is true for Justin Meram to stay with RSL. (That last bit first reported by @tombogert).
— Jeff Carlisle (@JeffreyCarlisle) January 4, 2022
This would be the first signing of 2022 for the club, and the first involving a player who wasn’t already on the team last year.
Caldwell is a league veteran who has played the entirety of his MLS career with the New England Revolution. Scott joined the club back in 2013 as a homegrown. He has appeared in 229 matches and netted 5 goals for the club. Caldwell is primarily known for his work as a defensive midfielder, a position that RSL has been inconsistent at since the departure of Kyle Beckerman a season ago.
In 2021 Caldwell saw his minutes decline sharply for the Revolution, featuring in only 13 matches in mostly mop-up duty. He only accumulated 198 minutes of total playing time in 2021 with only 2 starts to his name with no goals, no assists, and one yellow card. It was apparently tough for Caldwell to find minutes in a crowded midfield group that was good enough to help the Revolution win the 2021 MLS Supporters Shield.
According to the 2021 MLS Player Salaries that were released by MLSPA, Caldwell was on a base salary of $205k with $215k in guaranteed compensation last year.
He seems to be a very affordable and experienced depth piece for the RSL midfield. We’ll keep our ears to the ground and update you as things progress.