Back in November, Carlos Bocanegra had a surprise for the assembled group of Atlanta United media.
“Miles is coming into the last year of his contract and, obviously, he was an interesting one with hurting his Achilles early in the season," Bocanegra said. "So we actually not too long after that exercised his option. So he had that security. And we've been having ongoing discussions with him.“
He added, "We've got a four-year guaranteed deal on the table for Miles as we speak, and we've been in discussions for a while with his him and his agency and he's someone we want to build around. He's someone we want to be here for the long haul. So that is on the table for him right now and we hope to have some good news hopefully before the end of the year with Miles being a longtime Atlanta United player.”
That good news never came. And I wouldn’t hold your breath on it coming anytime soon.
The first thing to note here is that it’s extremely rare to hear an Atlanta United executive talk about an ongoing contract discussion. In fact, it’s hard to remember it happening in the history of the club. The surprise here though isn’t just Bocanegra offering that contract negotiations were ongoing, but that there were details already in place that the club was willing to share. Very plainly, the framing is that Miles Robinson has a four-year deal on the table and the ball is at his feet.
It seems there’s an attempt to play some dimension of chess here. Putting those details out there does a couple of things. The fans now know that Robinson has a deal on the table and the club is afforded some level of plausible deniability. They have officially *made an effort*.
They’ve also put some level of pressure on Robinson to make a decision. If he chooses to explore other options, then he’s not quite the bad guy of the story but he’s also not the mythical hero willing to take what’s offered for the good of the team.
But why should he? He’s under no obligation to take whatever’s on the table from Atlanta simply because they got there first. For a player who has performed at a DP level when healthy, he’s earned the right to see what other tables are out there and what might be on them for a player of his caliber.
There’s obviously an element of risk here for him. He’s coming off an Achilles tear and athletes who have experienced that can often find it difficult to make their bodies do the things their bodies used to do. However, Robinson is understandably betting on himself.
In his first media appearance since his injury, the media asked Robinson last week if there was any fear of not having his contract locked down past 2023.
“I think it's one of those things," Robinson said. "You’ve just kind of got to believe in yourself. And I've done that my whole career and I don't really ever kind of play with fear or you know, wake up scared or anything like that. I kind of go out and try to take what I think I deserve."
Atlanta is now in the strange position where they’re hoping Robinson’s bet comes good but not too good. Robinson will certainly be looking for an increase from his guaranteed compensation of $737,000 in 2022. And MLS teams will undoubtedly be willing to offer him that increase in free agency. Whether that increase fits into Atlanta’s salary structure will depend on how Robinson performs, along with a whole lot of moving variables and whatever contingency plans (or lack thereof) Atlanta has put in place for this eventuality. To put it bluntly, Robinson could be looking for a DP deal and that could be that for his time in Atlanta, or even MLS as a whole.
Although, for now, Robinson isn’t openly committing to any demands. When asked about a potential DP deal, he shrugged the question off and explained that he’s just trying to make it back on the field first.
All of this is absolutely the right call on Robinson’s part. And it’s not surprising to see him apparently make the call to test the waters considering who he went to for advice during recovery. Robinson told us that his USMNT teammate, former New York Red Bull captain and now LAFC center back Aaron Long helped guide Robinson through his recovery.
Long, 30, tore his Achilles in 2021 before returning last season. He played 2370 minutes and elected to become a free agent this offseason. He picked up a Max TAM deal ($1.625 million or so) from the reigning MLS Cup winners.
“I was, you know, always in contact with [Long] throughout the whole recovery process,” Robinson said. “You know, him having the same position as me and also you know, he tore his around the same time frame as me. So it was really great to have him as a supportive, you know, great guy and good friend. So having him was definitely beneficial.”
If Long is commanding a Max TAM deal at 30 years old and a year after tearing his Achilles, then Robinson, 25 years old and a better player, will be well aware that a major payday is on the horizon if he performs. If that means suffering through a year's worth of “Hey, so, uh, what’s going on with your contract?” questions, that should be worth it. It will be hanging over his head and the team’s head all year. But he appears to be getting the right advice and making the right decisions. That means Atlanta fans may have to get used to the idea of a 2024 squad without Miles Robinson.
