Atlanta United Grab Bag: The worst form in MLS and leftover GAM

we're sorry to do this to you on a Friday

via Atlanta United

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We, like you, are waiting for the offseason. There’s little to say that hasn’t already been repeated a dispiriting number of times since Atlanta United’s last home win on May 28. But we’ll try our best.

A bad time.

Some quick notes on that months-long run. Since that win over Orlando City, no one in MLS has earned fewer points. Atlanta and D.C. United are tied with 10 total points over the last 121 days. D.C. has played one more game, but, still, yikes.

There’s at least a funny side to this stretch since May 28. According to ASA, Atlanta has totaled the 22nd-best Expected Points total since that win. The two teams directly below them? Charlotte—who just tied the MLS record for wins in a row—and FC Cincinnati—a Shield contender. MLS, man.

Besides the MLS of it all, you and I both know why Atlanta haven’t earned similar outcomes. Catastrophic giveaways, a lack of quality in the final third and spending the majority of life in awful game states is a great way to make your underlying numbers full of lies and secrets. We can see that come through in Atlanta’s “even game state” numbers. When games have been tied, Atlanta has been the second-worst team in the league over that span. Only Sporting KC have worse underlying numbers in even game states. There are no green shoots.

It should be, once again, a busy offseason.

GAM and TAM for 2026

Speaking of the offseason (HELMET ON), MLS released the current General Allocation Money totals for each team today. Remember: GAM is basically monopoly money you use to increase cap space or use in MLS trades. TAM is specifically extra cap space for players who cost a certain amount of money (more than $743,750 and less than $1,743,750). Atlanta United, after adding three TAM-level players this summer, is understandably towards the bottom end of the league in remaining GAM.

Here’s where they started when the most recent offseason began. Remember (lol like anyone remembers any of this): Atlanta got a bonus $3 million in GAM from outgoing transfers, along with the standard allowance of $2.93 million in GAM every team received this season. In addition to their GAM, each team got $2.225 million in TAM to utilize this season and only this season. Let’s assume they used practically all of it.

Anyway, heading into the offseason, they ended up with more GAM than anyone else in MLS.

By the start of the season, they were here.

And here’s where they are now.

That extra room at the start of the season, plus outgoing moves to send Efrain Morales ($450k in GAM received via trade), Noah Cobb ($100k in GAM received via loan), Xande Silva (TAM budget charge off the books, $100k in GAM received via trade) and Luis Abram (TAM budget charge off the books) elsewhere, netted Atlanta enough room to add Enea Mihaj, Juan Berrocal and Steven Alzate.

Now, assessing how much GAM Atlanta spent here and on which players gets really tricky. On top of that, we don’t know how much the new guys are making yet. On top of all that, the best we can ever do with any of this is make barely educated estimates about a player’s actual budget charge. Because MLS.

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***AUTHOR’S NOTE: Here’s where I originally took a genuine college try at deciphering how and why Atlanta’s GAM got to where it is now based on the budget charges of Atlanta United players and other assorted factors. I should not have done this. You would have quit trying to read it after the first couple of sentences. If you somehow made it through, you would have been dismayed to find out my conclusion was “I dunno.” Everything hurts.

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Anyway, the bottom line is that we can operate with the assumption that,