While there’s still no official Tacoma Defiance roster, there are roster rules for the new third-division league. MLS NEXT Pro just released the way the 20 reserve teams and Rochester will construct their rosters — there’s a few unexpected notes.
When the league first was announced there was an expectation that it would be age-limited. It’s not. The salary cap was expected to be tiny, but there isn’t one. Most thought that the majority of the roster would come from unused MLS players. NEXT Pro teams can be built with 24 players on their roster with an additional 11 unpaid academy players.