Less than two weeks since the end of the USL Championship Final, the offseason is in full swing. The past week has seen some key retentions – including clubs handing multi-year extensions to some of this past year’s key performers – and some notable names on the move to new destinations via transfer and in free agency.

Here’s our list of the 10 most important transactions of the past seven days.

1. Rhode Island FC signs Maxi Rodriguez

Defending Eastern Conference title holders Rhode Island FC – get used to seeing that, won’t you? – already brought back a strong contingent from its inaugural season, but it’s signing of 2024 USL Championship All-League First Team selection Maxi Rodriguez as its first new arrival for 2025 is as big a statement as you might find all offseason.

Rodriguez has been a crucial part of Detroit City’s success over its first three seasons in the USL Championship, recording 23 goals, 11 assists and 98 chances created while showing great durability in making 102 appearances and logging 8,432 appearances across the regular season and playoffs. The 29-year-old’s mentality was a perfect fit in Detroit and should translate very well to RIFC’s locker room as well.

2. Birmingham Legion FC acquires Ronaldo Damus

There have been few finishers this decade that have been as consistent in the USL Championship as Ronaldo Damus. Over three seasons, he’s recorded 47 goals in 99 appearances across the regular season and playoffs, logging double-digit goals in each campaign while winning league titles with Orange County SC (2021) and Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC (2024).

Now he’s bringing that to Birmingham Legion FC, which acquired the Haitian on loan with an option for a permanent transfer from Swedish club GIF Sundsvall. Yes, the knock on Damus is his timing isn’t always on when it comes to defensive lines, but the tradeoff of 2.55 offside calls per goal is one any team will gladly accept. Legion is retooling after missing the postseason for the first time, and this is a big addition to that end.

3. Louisville City FC re-signs Taylor Davila

If there’s anything we’ve learned about Louisville City FC over the years is it doesn’t let talent go unless there’s a good transfer fee coming back the other way, or if believes a player has even more to offer. The latter is why the side signed Taylor Davila to a multi-year contract extension this week, ensuring the two-time USL Championship All-League First Team selection will have an extended run in purple.

The 24-year-old had already shown what he was about in earning All-League First Team honors despite Rio Grande Valley FC missing the playoffs in 2023. This past season he raised his game further, notching seven goals and six assists to earn nomination for the Championship Player of the Year award. Davila is now set to hold down the middle of the park at Lynn Family Stadium for the foreseeable future.

4. Indy Eleven signs Bruno Rendón

Officially, Bruno Rendón was USL League One Defender of the Year this past season for Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC, but it’s the attacking properties the Cuban wingback brings to the field that could make him a gamechanger as he moves up to the USL Championship with Indy Eleven. With 20 goals and six assists in 61 appearances across League One and the USL Jägermeister Cup, the quality the right-sided player brings in the attack half has been evident.

There are potential shades here of Jack Gurr, whose impact since joining Sacramento Republic FC has seen him twice selected to the Championship’s All-League First Team. That’s been as much to do with what Gurr brings in the attacking half. If Rendón can deliver in the same way for Indy, it will be a massive boost for the Boys in Blue.

5. San Antonio FC re-signs Jorge Hernandez

It feels fair to say there are going to be changes coming to San Antonio FC this offseason, but getting Jorge Hernandez back in the fold was going to be an essential part of the plan as the club continues its search for a new Head Coach after the departure of Alen Marcina.

The 24-year-old is a three-time USL Championship All-League First Team selection and has bagged 22 goals and 30 assists across his time with San Antonio FC and the LA Galaxy II. His creativity has been key for SAFC, with 19 assists in two seasons and a rate of 2.7 chances created per 90 minutes in 59 appearances. Whoever takes the helm in the coming weeks, they’ll be aiming to find a way to sustain those levels of production.

6. Detroit City FC acquires Morey Doner

There has been no player more durable over the past three seasons than Morey Doner, whose 9,119 minutes of action while starting all 102 games for Monterey Bay F.C. put him at the top of the minutes played list in the USL Championship. But it’s not just that which made the Canadian a target for Detroit City this offseason as he figures to plug into the back four for Le Rouge next year.

Doner has been a solid two-way performer, recording 10 assists and 90 chances created in attack – the former number one that could have been higher with Doner having recorded a 14.46 Expected Assists mark in Monterey Bay – while also recording a 59.7 percent duel success rate, 69 interceptions, 145 clearances and 556 recoveries. In American Soccer Analysis’ database, Doner’s +14.43 Goals Added mark ranks fourth among full backs over the past three years, a mark he’ll be aiming to sustain with DCFC.

7. Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC re-signs Matt Mahoney

For the first era of Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC’s history, Jordan Burt could have been labeled Mr. Switchback. That mantle now appears to be taken up by Matt Mahoney, whose new contract with the club to extend his stay into a fifth season in 2025 could see the All-League First Team center back become the club’s all-time leader in appearances and minutes played.

There likely wasn’t much to discuss for Mahoney and the Switchbacks’ leadership team. Either side has a deep history with the other through their pathways at the Philadelphia Union, but this season has seen Mahoney’s consistency earn the respect of the league’s executives and his peers. With Mahoney’s work ethic and desire to bring more success to Weidner Field, expect more of the same next season.

8. New Mexico United exercises Talen Maples’ contract option

New Mexico continued its slow reveal of which players will be back for the 2025 USL Championship season, but the club exercising Talen Maples’ contract option for the new season was one of the easiest decisions they’ll have had to make. The 26-year-old center back might have been in the middle of one of the most memorable blunders of the season, but the quality he brought game-in and game-out was central to United’s defensive success and first-place finish in the campaign.

Maples was United’s defensive leader in 2024, and it wasn’t particularly close. His 141 clearances were more than double his closes teammate, while his 30 blocked shots doubled the total of fellow returnee and center back partner Anthony Herbert. He also led the side with 68 aerial duels won and ranked second to Nanan Houssou with 118 duels won, ending up second on the team with a +6.67 Goals Added mark per American Soccer Analysis. That ranked fifth among center backs in AMA’s rankings. Another season like this and he could be in All-League contention.

9. Tampa Bay Rowdies re-sign Forrest Lasso

There were, admittedly, some adjustments to be made for Forrest Lasso early in the 2024 season as he struggled to fit his game to new Rowdies Head Coach Robbie Neilson’s high defensive line, but it felt a little cruel for the three-time USL Championship Defender of the Year to suffer a torn ACL just as things seemed to be turning in the right direction.

Lasso’s +2.98 Goals Added mark in just 803 minutes of action projected to another strong overall campaign before he was sidelined, and while there will be eyes on how sharp the 31-year-old will be as he returns this preseason, this feels like a smart bet by Tampa Bay that Lasso will be back to his best. The threat he poses at set pieces in addition to on the club’s back line for one of the cross-heaviest teams in the league could also pay major dividends.

10. Las Vegas Lights’ initial Roster Moves

Yes, we’re having a little bit of fun here, but the fact Las Vegas Lights FC has 17 players under contract at this point of the offseason is the final chapter of a year that’s been transformative for the club under new owner Jose Bautista, Sporting Director Gianleonardo Neglia and Head Coach Dennis Sanchez.

While J.C. Ngando’s time with the club came to an end following his loan from Vancouver Whitecaps FC, the Lights are guaranteed to return the other seven of its eight highest outfield Goals Added contributors for 2024 as well as goalkeeper Raiko Arozarena, who was stellar in his first full season between the sticks at this level. That’s a lot to build on for the 2024 Western Conference Finalist as they prepare for Year 2 of the new regime.