Houston Dynamo sign and then trade Kofi Sarkodie to San Jose

On Friday the Houston Dynamo completed a sign-and-trade deal with the San Jose Earthquakes for targeted allocation money. In exchanged for the TAM the Dynamo signed and then traded defender Kofi Sarkodie.

The right back had spent five seasons with the Dynamo but was not currently on the roster for the Dynamo. The team still held his MLS rights which lead to the need for the sign-and-trade deal. The move to San Jose reunites Sarkodie with former Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear. While in charge of the Dynamo Kinnear had selected Sarkodie with the number 7 pick of the 2011 MLS SuperDraft.

There are several uses for TAM in MLS. Clubs can use TAM funds to sign a new player if their salary and acquisition costs are outside of the maximum salary budget. They can also use it on an existing player if their salary is outside of the maximum salary budget. It can also be used to buy down the cost of a Designated Player, causing them to no longer be a DP, as long as they are signing an additional DP at the same or greater value. Finally, they can also use it to trade with clubs like with this deal between Houston and San Jose.