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VERDE MANAGER

GAM & TAM TRANSACTIONS

Verified allocation money transactions from official Austin FC sources

2026 ALLOCATION POSITION (Calculated)

GAM POSITIONtradeable
Annual + Distributions+$3.28M
Nelson/Rosales Trades-$605K
Reserved for Cap-$440K
Free GAM$1.98M
TAM POSITIONuse-it-or-lose-it
Annual Allocation+$2.13M
Est. Cap Buydowns-$2.00M
Available TAM$125K
TOTAL FLEXIBILITY

$2.11M

After cap compliance

Tradeable GAM$1.98M
2027 owes: $600K

Source: Matthew Doyle analysis + Austin FC press releases + MLS CBA rules.

VERIFIED TRANSACTIONS

-$550KGAM
Mar 2027

GAM sent (2027) to Vancouver in Jayden Nelson trade

Vancouver Whitecaps FCJayden Nelson
View Source Article
-$50KGAM
Jan 2027

Conditional GAM (2027) to Inter Miami in Robert Taylor trade

Inter Miami CFRobert Taylor
View Source Article
-$2.00MTAMEST
Mar 2026

2026 TAM buydowns (ESTIMATE)

Salary Buydowns

TAM used first (use-it-or-lose-it), then GAM for remainder

-$440KGAMEST
Mar 2026

2026 GAM buydowns (ESTIMATE)

Salary Buydowns

GAM supplements TAM for cap compliance

-$250KGAM
Mar 2026

GAM sent (2026) to Inter Miami in Robert Taylor trade

Inter Miami CFRobert Taylor
View Source Article
-$700KGAM
Mar 2026

GAM sent (2026) to Vancouver in Jayden Nelson trade (Dec 2025)

Vancouver Whitecaps FCJayden Nelson

Also sent $550K in 2027 GAM and 2026 MLS SuperDraft First Round pick. Vancouver retains sell-on percentage.

View Source Article

ALLOCATION BY YEAR

2027

GAM
+$3.92M-$600K= $3.32M
TAM
+$2.02M= $2.02M

2026

GAM
+$3.28M-$1.39M= $1.89M
TAM
+$2.13M-$2.00M= $125K

LEGEND

GAMGeneral Allocation Money
TAMTargeted Allocation Money
Verified from official source
ESTEstimated (not officially disclosed)
GAM/TAM received
GAM/TAM spent

KEY ASSUMPTIONS & RULES

TAM Used First for Buydowns

TAM is use-it-or-lose-it, so teams exhaust TAM before using GAM for cap compliance

GAM Rolls Over

Unused GAM carries to next season (as of 1/14/25). Save GAM for trades!

TAM Can't Be Traded

Only used for salary buydowns. Expires each year if not used.

GAM Increasing Per CBA

$1.53M (2021) → $3.28M (2026) → $3.92M (2027)

TAM Decreasing Per CBA

$2.80M (2021) → $2.13M (2026) → $2.03M (2027)

Budget Must Balance

Total budget charge must be ≤ salary budget. Use TAM/GAM to buy down the difference.

MLS ALLOCATION PROGRESSION (CBA 2021-2028)

YearGAMTAMTotalMax Cap Hit
2027 $3.92M$2.02M$5.95M$883K
2026 CURRENT$3.28M$2.13M$5.41M$803K
2025 $2.93M$2.23M$5.16M$744K
2024 $2.58M$2.40M$4.99M$684K
2023 $1.90M$2.72M$4.62M$651K
2022 $1.63M$2.80M$4.42M$613K
2021 $1.52M$2.80M$4.33M$613K

GAM increases each year while TAM decreases per CBA (Feb 2021 - Jan 2028). GAM no longer expires as of 1/14/25.