So, the rules for the Expansion Draft this offseason are out.

MLS will conduct expansion draft for Atlanta and Minnesota Dec 13. Five picks apiece. Current clubs protect 11 each, plus GAs and homegrowns

— Steven Goff (@SoccerInsider) September 13, 2025

Minnesota and Atlanta will both get to select five players from the twenty existing MLS teams. Each team can only lose one player. Half won't lose any. Will any United player get selected to become... a United player? Well let's check it out.

DC's roster:
Taylor Kemp
Sean Franklin
Kofi Opare
Marcelo Sarvas
Lloyd Sam
Alvaro Saborio
Luciano Acosta
Patrick Nyarko
Lamar Neagle
Nick DeLeon
Steve Birnbaum
Patrick Mullins
Miguel Aguilar
Chris Rolfe
Jalen Robinson
Chris Korb
Jared Jeffrey
Rob Vincent
Bill Hamid
Bobby Boswell
Julian Buscher
Luke Mishu
Alhaji Kamara
Travis Worra
Andrew Dykstra
Kennedy Igboananike
Chris Durkin
Charlie Horton
Collin Martin

Okay, so first we get to protect all the GA and homegrowns. In the last expansion draft, this didn't apply to Bill Hamid because he'd signed a new contract. I think we can assume he would have to be protected again. We'll assume that Robinson and Martin are still on their original contract, and that Buscher will still count as a GA.

Automatically Protected

Jalen Robinson
Julian Buscher
Chris Durkin
Collin Martin

Protected List

Taylor Kemp
Sean Franklin
Kofi Opare
Luciano Acosta
Lamar Neagle
Nick DeLeon
Steve Birnbaum
Patrick Mullins
Rob Vincent
Bill Hamid
Alhaji Kamara

Exposed

Marcelo Sarvas
Lloyd Sam
Alvaro Saborio
Patrick Nyarko
Miguel Aguilar
Chris Rolfe
Chris Korb
Jared Jeffrey
Bobby Boswell
Luke Mishu
Travis Worra
Andrew Dykstra
Kennedy Igboananike
Charlie Horton

For my list, I tried to skew to the younger players, hoping that Atlanta and Minnesota might be put off by higher salaries and higher ages. Also, I think that's better for the longer term future of DC. Starting from the back, the only goalkeeper I protected was Bill Hamid. That's pretty self-explanatory why we'd want him back on the team. I didn't select any of the others, as this is an area where United's abundance of keepers is good insurance. If they take Horton, we have Worra. If they take Worra, we have Horton. If they take Dykstra, that's ideal. I doubt either of the teams will be interested in any of the three though.

In defense, I protected Opare at the expense of Boswell. Kemp and Franklin are both invaluable, and Birnbaum is a national teamer. Robinson is automatically protected. Hopefully the team can swing a deal to keep Boswell on the roster, similar to the deals they made to protect Arnaud. Luke Mishu is available for selection, but seems like a safe bet to not be chosen. Chris Korb isn't protected either, but it's up in the air if his career is done or not.

At midfield, there were some hard choices. I left both Nyarko and Sam exposed. Nyarko has been one of our most vital attacking pieces, but his health and age are concerns. If he's chosen, it will be a bummer. Sam likewise is getting on in age. Basically, Kasper and Olsen should be shopping for wingers this offseason. Chris Rolfe may return, but we can't count on that. Miguel Aguilar might take the leap, but then again he might not. I left him exposed because he has yet to really demonstrate skills that justify keeping him. Marcelo has been terrific this season, although I think the team can roll with Vincent (over Jeffrey), and also shop for an upgrade there. I decided to keep Neagle, due to his versatility and production, and DeLeon for his age, versatility, and having someone with institutional memory. DeLeon over Nyarko was the toughest call I had to make.

Forward was pretty easy. Mullins was a gimme. Not protecting Saborio (who may be going back to Costa Rica anyway) was an easy call too. I've kind of liked what Kennedy Igboananike has done, but he has a huge salary and the things he's done hasn't included scoring goals. Let one of the other teams take him if they want. I did protect Kamara (at the expense of Nyarko or Sam) due to his age and because we will need depth at striker, and will likely be needing to shop for more depth in the offseason.

So that's my list. What's yours?