2026 Colorado Rapids Season Preview

Commerce City, Colo. – The 2026 Colorado Rapids season is upon us. This weekend marks the start of the MLS regular season. The Burgundy Boys will play Sunday night at Seattle Sounders. It’s been an eventful offseason with a coaching change and three Homegrowns departing the club. There’s some healthy skepticism amongst the fanbase and some reasons for optimism. Let’s break it down.

Departures: Daouda Amadou, Cole Bassett, Sam Bassett, Michael Edwards, Calvin Harris, Nate Jones, Oliver Larraz, Andreas Maxsø, Rafael Santos

The most shocking on this list is by far Cole Bassett. Traded two weeks into preseason to Portland Timbers for $2.65 million with add-ons came out of nowhere. I see the logic behind it, but I still don’t agree with it. Bassett had his ups and downs at the club. But there’s no denying when he was on, he was one of the best domestic box-to-box midfielders in MLS.

He was a poster boy off the field and a champion of the local community. He will be missed. Rapids Media Day suggested that he was going to be a backup to Paxten Aaronson. This move puts pressure on that and on Matt Wells to make the system work. It puts pressure on the front office to spend that money well. Five weeks to go in the transfer window.

Other key departures were the three players Colorado were negotiating with to bring back. Oli Larraz clearly wanted to test the market in Europe. That didn’t work out and he signed with Vancouver Whitecaps. He was a bit of a passenger at times but was a well-rounded midfielder when he had help around him. Calvin Harris likely got a deserved pay raise in joining Sporting KC. He’ll get minutes and score goals. Don’t think that team will be good. Rafael Santos had an option year declined and joined St. Louis City. He should cook as an attacking fullback. All three players had a useful role to play in the match day roster that will need to be replaced.

I could have told you in August that Maxsø wasn’t staying with the club. There were rumors the previous winter about a move to the Middle East. Had Chido Awaziem not left in the summer, maybe he leaves sooner. Rob Holding seems like a good fit to be the replacement veteran center back.

All the other departures didn’t have an immediate path to first team football. It was best for all parties for them to leave. The club’s done a good job of recruiting other young players to fill in that depth.

Most notably, Cole’s younger brother Sam Bassett had his 2026 team option declined. Burgundy Wave reported that he was offered a Rapids 2 contract but the player declined it. After going on trial to Nashville SC, he has signed with the defending champions of the USL Championship, Pittsburgh Riverhounds.

Arrivals: Dante Sealy, Hamzat Ojediran, Bryce Jamison, Lucas Herrington, Miguel Navarro, Donavan Philip, Sydney Wathuta*, Noah Cobb*

I’ll start with the two big acquisitions. Winger Dante Sealy joins from CF Montreal for $1.9 million in GAM plus add-ons. Hamzat Ojediran joins from FC Lens in France for $3 million. Sealy was a bright spot for Montreal last season with nine goals and two assists. He fits Wells’ system, likely as an inverted winger. He’ll be direct, go at goal, and contribute on set pieces. He’ll need to be to live up to that valuation off one breakout season. I’ve heard great things about Ojediran in preseason, despite him coming late and not being a regular starter at any of his clubs in Europe. The Rapids midfield has been crying out for a physical defensively midfielder. “Hamzat The Destroyer” may be the real deal.

Miguel Navarro joins on loan from Talleres in Argentina. He’s technically returning to the Rapids, having been acquired in the Andrew Gutman trade then loaned and bought by Talleres in 2024. He’ll raise the floor at left back. We’ll see if he plays well enough for Colorado to trigger the option to buy. This could lead to a make-or-break year for Sam Vines, which would be massive given the departures of other Homegrowns lately.

All the other guy son this list are young exciting prospects. Cobb and Wathuta were in the organization last year. Cobb was here on loan from Atlanta United and had a purchase option picked up. He’s done well in the MLS minutes he’s gotten Wathuta impressed Wells in preseason to earn a first team deal after excelling with Rapids 2 in 2025. Lucas Herrington is a highly regarded prospect as an Australian youth international at center back.

Matt Wells in his first year as a Head Coach:

The decision to trade Bassett aside, all signals point to Wells being a great hire. He’s raised the energy of the team and given the players their hardest preseason ever. They’re fit without a lot of injuries. Wells’ staff of Alastair Harris and Rob Burch had a big part in that. Additionally, Chris Little has left the staff for Nashville SC, which seemed to be a mutual parting of ways. Little had good tactical ideas and brought stability as an assistant coach. It was time for a change maybe.

The club’s been very secretive this offseason, wanting to surprise the rest of the league. I think the team is playing a pressing 4-3-3. They’ll look to use their fitness and Wells’ very thought out tactics to dominate games. It’s grand and ambitious. If they can pull it off, Colorado will absolutely raise their ceiling come October.

At the same time, Wells has talked about wanting to be good on the ball. Colorado is still at a talent deficit relative to most of the league. Teams that have punched above their weight in MLS (looking at you, Philadelphia Union) have done so by going all in on a Plan A identity. We’ll see what works and what needs to be adjusted as the season goes along. I expect it to be a slow start.

Here’s my predicted starting XI for the season, not necessarily how they’ll start at Seattle:

Read More: Matt Wells Exclusive Interview

Read More: Five Questions for the Matt Wells era

2026 Outlook and Prediction:

For all the negativity around the end of 2025 and this offseason, Colorado were one result away from making the playoffs last year. There’s offense to replace with Bassett and Djordje Mihailović gone. This is Aaronson’s team. If Sealy and Ojediran hit, they will be much improved on both sides of the ball. Rafael Navarro’s future will also be key given the interest from his native Brazil. If Wells improves the offense and defense by 10% from last year, this team will have a home playoff game.

Season Predictions: As I said on Holding The High Line, I think they finish 9th. They win the wild card game but lose in the best-of-three round. They will not retain the Rocky Mountain Cup, as RSL got much better in the attack this winter. They’ll lose to an MLS team in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Navarro will be sold in the summer. KSE will retain Pádraig Smith and much of the front office staff but have someone else leading the technical side of the organization in 2027.

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