Reacting to the 2026 Colorado Rapids Departures and 2025 Year-End Roster Updates

Commerce City, Colo. – Earlier this winter, the Colorado Rapids announced their year-end roster updates, including deciding options on players for 2026. We’ve got some updates on where departing players are landing and some rumors. Let’s break it down. 

Colorado exercised options on goalkeeper Nico Hansen, Homegrown left back Jackson Travis, and Homegrown forward Darren Yapi. Options were declined on Daouda Amadou, Sam Bassett, Michael Edwards, Nate Jones, Andreas Maxsø, and Rafael Santos. Oliver Larraz and Calvin Harris are out of contract. Harris is eligible for MLS free agency. The club stated at the time they were in discussions with Amadou, Harris, Larraz, and Santos.

Center back Noah Cobb had a purchase option from Atlanta United that was picked up before the December 15. BW had previously covered the signings of Dante Sealy and Hamzat Ojediran which are now confirmed.

Thoughts on the retained players:

Nico Hansen: He was a great backup to Zack Steffen. Came out of nowhere. No brainer decision. 

Jackson Travis: He challenged Vines for starting throughout the season and did not look out of place. Went on loan at the end of the season. There’s a player in there, even if Santos is retained. Good depth option at minimum. 

Darren Yapi: No brainer. He’s become a big moment player and a productive goal scorer. Ten goal contributions. Offer him an extension at $400K a year before a Europa League team calls. 

Thoughts on the Departing Players:

Daouda Amadou: Colorado declined his option. They were in discussions initially but he recently signed with second division Swedish team Helsingborgs IF. It’s not clear to me what there was to negotiate. He was on a league minimum contract. Perhaps they were looking to sign him back to an R2 contract. He spent most of the year as R2 captain. A step back for a player who would have been going into his fourth season with the club doesn’t align with R2’s vision. His new club seems like a fit. Good luck.

Sam Bassett: This one hurts. Cole’s younger brother cut after one year with the club as a professional. Sources tell BW the decision was performance based. He played 333 minutes, wasn’t enough of a threat going forward. That miss he had at Portland Timbers, what could have been. Sources also tell BW that the club offered him a contract with R2, which Bassett declined. The player appears to be betting on himself. He’ll surely have offers from other NEXT Pro programs but I think he’ll end up in the USL Championship. He spoke well of the club on his way out.

Andreas Maxsø: President Pádraig Smith confirmed before these roster updates that they would be declining Maxsø’s option as he looks to go abroad. He could go back to Denmark or make that move to the Middle East that was rumored last winter. Maxsø was underwhelming for a lot of Rapids fans. His demeanor didn’t help. He’s Scandinavian. He has resting ‘I don’t want to be here face.’ Fans read into that too much, in my opinion. He was fine. He didn’t have a consistent center back parter, which challenged him. If you’re going to spend on a DP center back, you needed more out of him.

Nate Jones: Spent the year on loan with Las Vegas Lights. Colorado doesn’t see him challenging the center back depth chart in 2026. He has the physical attributes, just wasn’t sharp enough on the ball or quick in decision making. He’s already signed a USLC contract with Lights. Glad he landed. I hope he makes it in MLS one day.

Mike Edwards: One of a few players I expected to leave going back to the summer. Five years in the organization. Multiple loans to the USLC. He was a vibe in the minutes he got. Like Jones, just wasn’t going to challenge for first team minutes. He will be an excellent brick poop house in the USL for years to come.

Some With Uncertain Futures:

Rafael Santos: Colorado declined his option. He might not be as good a fit for the game model and was a defensively liability (so was Sam Vines). The fact that preseason has started and he still hasn’t sign doesn’t bode well. The two sides might be talking but I think Santos is looking to go back to Brazil.

Oliver Larraz: Everything I have heard is that he wants to go for Europe even if it’s a stepping stone move (think Scandinavia or a lower German division team). If none of those work out, maybe he comes back with his tail between his legs and he and Colorado renegotiate. With Ojediram coming in and Wells possibly switching to a 4-3-3, Larraz is likely Cole Bassett’s backup. Not sure he’d be jazzed about that. I think he eventually signs with a European team but it will be late in the window.

Calvin Harris: Harris is the most likely to return to Colorado from what I’ve heard and seen. I’d be due for a pay raise. The fact that he can play both flanks and prefers to be an inverted winger is valuable. He would be due for a pay raise. He made $152K last year, should probably be on $300-400K. If any of these three players return, I think it’s him.

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