Boston Breakers Dispersal Draft: What You Need to Know

As part of the process of winding down the Boston Breakers, the NWSL announced the draw this afternoon for tomorrow’s dispersal draft. Portland has been drawn fourth in the pick order. All of Boston’s players have made themselves available for the dispersal draft and will be available to be picked.

It will be a draft conducted in snake order, meaning the teams will pick in the order they are drawn for the first round and reverse order for the next, and so on. Portland will pick at spots four, 15, and 21. Teams are not required to make picks and are allowed to take up to four players, none of whom will require international spots or count against the salary cap. The rights to players who have left the league will also be available through the dispersal draft, though they will count against the salary cap and roster space should they return, and if they are non-US citizens, will require an international spot.

It was ridiculous to allow a team in the state the Breakers were apparently in to participate in the college draft, but given the consequences for NWSL contracts, it might work out all right for those players drafted. All 21 of Boston’s contracted players will be dispersed, but so will their college draft picks, meaning that 25 players will get the chance to play on contracts that do not count against their teams salary cap for a year.

A player like Joanna Boyles, drafted in the fourth round of this year’s college draft, was looking at possibly being signed to an amateur contract or not being signed at all, but now has the potential to be at least making league minimum in a risk-free way for teams. Whether this is a long-term success or not depends on the league’s ability to expand in 2019—if they don’t find expansion teams and decline to make the roster space expansion permanent, a lot of players will be out of work.

If no team passes in the draft, the Thorns have the opportunity to take three players without impacting their cap space, which you would expect a team with the resources of the Thorns to do, especially given how thin the Thorns bench was over the course of the 2017 season due to injuries. Whether the other teams use all of their picks will be interesting to watch, and perhaps a statement on the relative ambitions of the clubs. Some accounts suggest the NWSL rejected bids to continue the Breakers because of a desire for a higher quality, more sustainable ownership group, so a club not taking their full allotment of cap-exempt players should be under scrutiny.

It’s a bit of an unpleasant spectacle to be picking over the corpse of the Breakers, but there is good value in the roster, and in the circumstances, players getting to have jobs seems the least-bad outcome. The major prizes from the draft are Rose Lavelle and Savannah McCaskill, but the Thorns need defensive cover, especially during a year with significant international obligations. Megan Oyster has a reputation as a strong centre back as does Julie King, though King will start the season injured. Elizabeth Wenger was picked in the second round of the NWSL college draft, the second highest central defender to go, and seems a sensible pick if available.

The draft will take place tomorrow at 4 pm PT. The order is as follows (the full list of available players can be viewed on the NWSL website):

1. Sky Blue FC
2. Washington Spirit
3. Seattle Reign FC
4. Portland Thorns FC
5. Utah Royals FC
6. Houston Dash
7. Chicago Red Stars
8. Orlando Pride
9. North Carolina Courage

This article will be updated as draft picks are selected.