New contract should net Blake big payday
Four years and one day ago, Andre Blake strode onto the stage at the Philadelphia Convention Center when MLS Commissioner Don Garber called his name as the first overall SuperDraft pick in the town he would call home. He was feted as a generational talent, the Union’s goalkeeper of the future.
Wednesday, the club ensured Blake’s tenure in town would last a little longer.
Blake inked a multi-year contract that the club announced Wednesday. Details were not released per league policy, but the disclosure that the deal utilized Targeted Allocation Money indicates he is among the highest paid goalies in MLS.
“It’s always good when there’s a place that you can call home,” Blake said via a teleconference from his native Jamaica. “I’m just glad I was able to come to an agreement with Philadelphia and I’m just ready to go and looking forward to a new season.”
Blake, the No. 1 pick in 2014 for whom the Unino traded up, has played 65 matches, posting a 21-27-17 record. He was in the final option year of his rookie deal, which began as a Generation Adidas contract. Blake was named the 2016 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year and to that season’s All-Star Game.
Blake had been linked to several clubs abroad, though the Union have vigorously maintained that no serious offers for his services materialized.
The usage of TAM, designed to pay down salaries near the designated player threshold (roughly $450,000), indicates that Blake will reap a much larger salary than the $186,000 in guaranteed compensation netted last year (at a cap hit of $148,500). Behind Tim Howard, who makes $2 million for the Colorado Rapids and is the only goalie to occupy a DP spot, the next highest-paid goalkeepers are Real Salt Lake’s Nick Rimando ($450,000) and Luis Robles of the New York Red Bulls ($430,000). Only six goalies last year had a cap hit of more than $300,000, and 10 topped the $200,000 mark. Blake is easily in that echelon now.
“It’s definitely great to know that you’re being rewarded for your performance,” Blake said. “That’s good and I hope I’ll be able to continue to work hard and do what I’ve been doing and even more for the club and the people of Philadelphia.”
“It is a priority for us to build and secure the foundation of the Philadelphia Union, and Andre is as big a part of that foundation as any player,” Sporting Director Earnie Stewart said in a team statement. “Ensuring he will be here for years to come is an important step for our club. We’re delighted to sign him to a new multiyear contract and would like to thank him for his dedication and hard work.”
Blake played in just seven games over his first two seasons, thanks to injuries in 2015 and the Union’s ill-conceived acquisition of Rais M’Bolhi in 2014. He started 32 games in 2016 and 26 in 2017, hampered only by a lacerated hand suffered on international duty.
Blake impressed most distinctly with the Reggae Boyz, winning the Golden Gloves as most outstanding goalkeeper as Jamaica made the finals of the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup, with Blake injured in the loss to the United States in the final. Blake has made 31 appearances and captained Jamaica.
As a veteran on a team that has purged much of its veteran baggage and been staggeringly silent in the transfer market, Blake is rightly regarded as a cornerstone, the third-longest-tenured member of the Union. He’s now being paid like it.
Blake has made no secret an aspiration to test himself in Europe someday. Wednesday’s deal didn’t alter that fundamental trajectory but merely delayed it, with the Union protecting their investment in the player for the long-term.
“Right now my main focus is Philadelphia and I’m not worried about the future,” Blake said. “I’m just going to live in the now and work hard and make my performance speak for itself.”
Blake also found out the identity of his new goalkeeper coach, a job with a short shelf-life. Tim Hanley, who has been working with the Union in Florida for the MLS Combine ahead of Friday’s SuperDraft in Philadelphia, was officially announced.
Hanley replaces Oka Nikolov, on staff for the last two years, and is the Union’s fifth goalkeeping coach since the start of the 2013 season.
Hanley is a veteran of MLS circles in nearly two decades on the bench. The 57-year-old spent seven seasons with the old San Jose Earthquakes before moving to the Houston Dynamo in 2006 for two seasons. Following a stint with the L.A. Galaxy, he returned to Houston from 2009-14, then to San Jose, where he was let go in November after three seasons. He’s won three MLS Cups and mentored a number of top talents.
Blake isn’t terribly familiar with Hanley, having met a few years ago. But with the recent parade of Union goalie coaches — Nikolov, M’Bolhi’s personal attaché Paulo Grilo, and BJ Callaghan — Blake has learned to adapt.