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The second round of the MLS Re-Entry Draft is scheduled to take place tomorrow at 3:00 PM. After only Maicon Santos was selected by the Chicago Fire in the first round of the Re-Entry Draft last week, we should expect to see a bit more movement today, since teams will now have the ability to re-negotiate the contracts of players that they select.
We've already given you a list of players that D.C. United might look to target in today's draft, and discussed those players and they needs that they fulfill in more detail on this week's Filibuster podcast. To summarize, we feel very strongly that United should consider central midfielder Khari Stephenson, who is a proven MLS starter that had fallen out of favor with the San Jose Earthquakes last season. With United picking 17th in the Re-Entry draft though, there's certainly a possibility that Stephenson will be gone before United gets the chance to select him (although we even suggest that trading a late round Superdraft pick or small sum of allocation money prior to the draft might be wise).
If not Stephenson, United could also use the Re-Entry draft to secure a forward who can contribute some minutes for us. Paulo Jr. is available as a speedy creative withdrawn forward option, while Conor Casey could also be selected to replace Hamdi Salihi as a relatively slow striker who is good in the air and has a scoring touch. Casey would also provide much more physicality than Salihi, which is a trait that Ben Olsen seems to consider fairly important.
What's the likeliest scenario though? It wouldn't be the popular choice, but I think the likeliest scenario might be for D.C. United to pass again. The team has been very conservative so far this offseason, which would coincide pretty nicely with how United approached last offseason as well. Olsen might forgo the opportunity to take on more players that have been cut by other MLS teams, preferring to fill our holes with international talent instead.
The complete list of eligible players can be found on MLSsoccer.com. Who would you like to see United take?