TFC Republic Weekly: December 15-21
The off-season rolls along for Toronto FC who still have some important roster moves to make ahead of the 2026 MLS campaign.
Welcome to the latest edition of TFC Republic Weekly, an email newsletter that will land in the inbox of both paid subscribers and free members of TFC Republic every Monday.
This newsletter will look at what's in store over the next seven days for Toronto FC, and also get a glimpse of what to expect at TFC Republic in the coming days.
So, without further ado...
Toronto FC finalizing a deal with Walker Zimmerman
It would appear that Toronto FC is going to land one of the biggest free agents available this off-season.
Sources have told TFC Republic that the Reds are finalizing a deal to sign veteran centre back Walker Zimmerman to a multi-year contract. The same sources said it's a non-DP deal and that an official announcement is expected to be made in the coming days. Tom Bogart of The Athletic was the first to report the news about Zimmerman on Saturday.
Zimmerman, a 32-year-old native of Georgia, has spent the past six years with Nashville SC, helping the Tennessee-based club win this year's U.S. Open Cup. He was a first round pick (seventh overall) by FC Dallas in the 2013 MLS SuperDraft and ended up playing in Texas for five years before featuring for LAFC in 2018 and 2019. He won a Supporters' Shield with both clubs.
It was with Nashville where his career took off as he was twice voted the MLS Defender of the Year (2020 and 2021). He's also been named to the MLS Best XI on five occasions (2019 to 2023).
Zimmerman has long been considered one of the best centre backs in the league, and he has a wealth of MLS experience under his belt with 307 regular season and playoff games under his belt.
He has proven to be a durable work horse, averaging 24.5 league games per season over the last six years for Nashville – although he did miss time this past year due to a concussion, a knee injury and national team duty. But he's still a reliable and experienced defender who should bring leadership and knowledge of MLS to a TFC side that could use a steadying presence in defence.
John Molinaro
Will the Reds make a move for any other free agents?
MLS free agency officially kicked off last Wednesday which means Toronto FC and other clubs are now allowed to engage in contract talks with players who are free to sign with any MLS team they choose.
To be eligible to become a free agent, out-of-contract and option-declined players have to meet the following criteria:
- 1) They must have been at least 24 years old during the 2025 season, and
- 2) They must have at least four years of MLS service under their belt.
From the sounds of it, TFC will be active in the market this off-season as GM Jason Hernandez looks to retool his roster ahead of the 2026 MLS campaign.
"I do think we're certainly going to have different conversations throughout all [of the MLS player] mechanisms. And free agency is, we think, going to be a strong one this year, as well," Hernandez said last month.
John Molinaro
Important roster decisions still loom for Toronto FC
In October, Toronto FC announced it picked up its contract options for the 2026 MLS season on six of 14 players: defenders Kobe Franklin and Nicksoen Gomis; midfielders Malik Henry and Kosi Thompson; and forwards Deandre Kerr and Jules-Anthony Vilsaint.
The eight players who didn't have their options exercised were goalkeeper Sean Johnson; defenders Kevin Long, Raoul Petretta and Sigurd Rosted; midfielder Nathaniel Edwards; and forwards Derrick Etienne Jr, Hugo Mbongue and Charlie Sharp.
Since then, we know that Petretta, Edwards and Sharp won't be back with TFC, while Mbongue will be invited to pre-season training camp in January where he'll have a chance to earn a new contract.
TFC have remained in contract conversations with some of the other option-declined players, and sources have told TFC Republic that the Reds have been negotiating with Johnson, who earned $1,063,125 US this season.
Johnson is a free agent, so Toronto could lose him without getting anything in return if he lands at another MLS club. The same applies to Etienne Jr.
John Molinaro
Stage two of MLS Re-Entry Draft is on Wednesday
For the third year in a row, Toronto FC took a pass in stage 1 of the MLS Re-Entry Draft. TFC did not make use of their sixth overall pick in last Thursday's event and was one of 30 teams across the league that didn't make a selection.
However, the Reds still have a chance to claim somebody during stage 2 on Wednesday (5:00 p.m. ET).
The re-entry draft is one of those convoluted player mechanism rules that is unique to MLS. Essentially, it applies to players who are out of contract or had their contract option declined but are not eligible for free agency. Players must be at least 24 years and have four years of MLS service under their belts to qualify for free agency.
Players who are at least 22 years old and have a minimum of one year of MLS service and who are either out of contract or had their option declined are not eligible for free agency. Instead, they go into the re-entry draft where they can be selected by another MLS team.
John Molinaro
TFC has a 2nd round pick in Thursday's MLS SuperDraft
The 2026 MLS SuperDraft takes place on Thursday, giving the 30 teams across the league a chance to add top NCAA prospects to their respective rosters.
Toronto traded its first-round pick (which ended up being the sixth overall selection) to Colorado in January in exchange for hiring Rapids assistant coach Neil Emblen and first-team analyst Jase Kin. Both previously worked with Robin Fraser during his time at Colorado and were still under contract to the Rapids at the start of pre-season. That meant the Reds had to give something up in order for them to reunite with Fraser in Toronto.
TFC's third-round pick was also traded away as part of the swap with CF Montreal in August for Matty Longstaff. That means that the Reds only have a second-round selection (36th overall) for this week's draft.
Last year, Toronto selected San Diego State defender Reid Fisher (No. 23, first round), University of Pittsburgh midfielder Michael Sullivan (No. 39, second round) and University of Dayton forward Joseph Melto Quiah (No. 69, third round). All three signed with TFC 2 and spent the season in MLS NEXT Pro; Sullivan made one appearance for the senior team. While Fisher and Quiah are under contract to TFC 2 for 2026, Sullivan won't be returning to the club.
John Molinaro
TFC Republic is going on vacation
TFC Republic will be on hiatus over Christmas and into the New Year as I take some much-needed time off. What that means is I won't be writing any stories, doing any video blogs or sending out the weekly newsletter. I'm completely shutting things down so I can take a break and enjoy time with my family and friends. I'll send out an email to all subscribers with more details on the morning of Dec. 22.
Even though the website will not be updated during my vacation, I will still be checking my email on a regular basis. So, if subscribers need to get a hold of me for any reason, please don't hesitate to drop me a line. You can reach me via email at jmo1897@gmail.com.
And, of course, should any major Toronto FC news break, I will end my vacation early in order to provide the type of in-depth coverage you have come to expect from TFC Republic.
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Stories to look out for at TFC Republic
The MLS SuperDraft takes place on Thursday. TFC Republic will have in-depth pre- and post-Draft coverage this week.
Other stories that will be published later this week include:
- TFC Republic names its Toronto FC player of the year for 2025.
- Pre- and post-coverage of stage 2 of the MLS re-entry draft on Wednesday.
- An in-depth Q&A with James Grossi about who could be the next TFC 2 player to graduate to the senior team.
- The finale of our nine-part series "TFC year in review" looks back at the month of October.
- Regular "TFC Tidbits" stories throughout the week.
- And more!
TFC Republic mailbag
TFC Republic will feature a regular reader mailbag column where I answer questions from subscribers about Toronto FC and Canadian soccer in general.
I'll answer the best questions submitted to me by TFC Republic readers, so feel free to drop me an email at jmo1897@gmail.com. You can also reach out to me via Twitter.
(Top photo by Lucas Kschischang/Toronto FC)
TFC Republic has a comments section! At the very bottom of every story, there is a feature where you can post your comments, so be sure to share your thoughts and views.
