The 2016 MLS SuperDraft was the seventeenth SuperDraft conducted by

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

. The SuperDraft is held each year in conjunction with the annual

National Soccer Coaches Association of America The United Soccer Coaches (formerly known as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)) is an organization of American soccer coaches founded in 1941. It is the largest soccer coaches organization in the world, with more than 3 ...

convention. The 2016 convention was held in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. The first two rounds of the 2016 SuperDraft were held on January 14, 2016. Rounds three and four were held via conference call on January 19, 2016.

Format

The SuperDraft format has remained constant throughout its history and closely resembles that of the

NFL Draft The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...

: #Any

expansion teams An expansion team is a new team in a sports league, usually from a city that has not hosted a team in that league before, formed with the intention of satisfying the demand for a local team from a population in a new area. Sporting leagues also ...

receive the first picks. #Non-playoff clubs receive the next picks in reverse order of prior season finish. #Teams that made the

MLS Cup Playoffs The MLS Cup Playoffs is the annual postseason elimination tournament of Major League Soccer. The final match of the tournament is the MLS Cup, the league's championship game. Under the current format adopted for the 2019 season, 14 teams qualif ...

are then ordered by which round of the playoffs they are eliminated. #The winners of the

MLS Cup The MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The game is held in November and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Conference ...

are given the last selection, and the losers the penultimate selection.

Player selection

Round 1

Any player marked with a * is part of the

Generation Adidas Generation Adidas is a joint venture between Major League Soccer and U.S. Soccer aimed at raising the level of young professional soccer talent in the United States. The program, sponsored by Adidas, offers professional-ready players in the U.S. ...

program.

Round 1 trades

Round 2

Round 2 trades

Round 3

Round 3 trades

Round 4

Round 4 trades

Other 2016 SuperDraft Trade Notes

* On June 6, 2013,

Vancouver Whitecaps FC Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on Marc ...

acquired a conditional selection in the 2016 SuperDraft and a second-round selection in the 2015 SuperDraft from

D.C. United D.C. United is a professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer, the top tier of American soccer. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Supp ...

in exchange for defender

Alain Rochat Alain Rochat (born 1 February 1983) is a retired footballer who played as a defender. Born in Canada, he represented Switzerland internationally. Club career Switzerland Rochat was born in Canada but his family moved to Switzerland when he wa ...

. The conditions to trigger the 2016 SuperDraft pick were not met. * On January 6, 2015,

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 1995, as part of the Anschutz Corporation, la ...

received goalkeeper

Zac MacMath Zachary Michael MacMath (born August 7, 1991) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper in Major League Soccer for Real Salt Lake. MacMath was drafted No. 5 overall in the 2011 MLS SuperDraft by the Philadelphia Union. ...

on loan for the 2015 season from

Philadelphia Union The Philadelphia Union are an American professional soccer club based in Chester, Pennsylvania. The Union compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Founded on February 28, 2008, the club began playing in 201 ...

. The loan deal included a provision that Philadelphia would acquire a first-round selection in the 2016 SuperDraft from Colorado should Colorado execute a permanent transfer for MacMath at the end of the 2015 season. On November 5, 2015, Colorado announced it would not exercise the transfer option on MacMath.

Notable undrafted players

Homegrown players

Other notable players

Summary

Selections by college athletic conference

Schools with multiple draft selections

Selections by position

References

{{2016 MLS season by team Major League Soccer drafts SuperDraft

MLS SuperDraft The MLS SuperDraft is an annual college draft for teams of Major League Soccer in the United States and Canada. It takes place in January and is used by teams to select players who have graduated from college or otherwise been signed by the l ...

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