When we looked at D.C. United midfielder Jared Jeffrey last month in our season review series, we thought there may have been a tiny bit of optimism for him, in the sense that Perry Kitchen, who served as the top of the central defensive midfielder depth chart, would be seeking greener pastures in Europe and, combined with Davy Arnaud attempting to recover from an injury, would open up a bit of breathing room for Jeffrey to show off his wares, especially with an uneven 2015 campaign by Markus Halsti.
Since then, D.C. acquired midfielders Julian Buescher and Paul Clowes in the MLS SuperDraft, the former of which is likely to earn a spot based on his Generation Adidas status alone, the latter is more of a redundant player to Jeffrey. And as the team headed down to Florida to start their preseason in earnest, similar players like former Columbus Crew SC midfielder Kevan George and Alajuelense (and Costa Rica national player) Ariel Rodriguez were brought into camp, which would not only indicate a threat to whatever hold Jeffrey had on the position, but perhaps called into question his future with D.C. in general.
There is certainly a future in playing for Jeffrey; in limited playing time in U.S. Open Cup and CONCACAF Champions League group games he has availed himself well, but hasn't been able to merit enough to get around the Perry Kitchen-sized hurdle for any sort of notable breakthrough. The CDM position is as open as it's going to be right now, and with George and Rodriguez around, the prospects for and message to Jeffrey at this point should be clear; go hard, or go elsewhere.