Whitecaps Make It Official: Introduce Jay DeMerit As First Signing

DeMerit is now officially the foundation upon which the Whitecaps will be built.

DeMerit has not played a competitive match since the most recent World Cup as Watford declined to renew his contract. That ended a run of six seasons in the English pyramid, much of which was spent at the highest level.

Reading a little more between the lines, you’ll notice no mention of the words “Designated Player,” something that would probably be worth sharing if that was the case. From that, we can reasonably assume they’ve convinced DeMerit to sign for something less than the $335,000 cap hit that is the maximum amount a DP would count against the salary budget (hey, Don Garber insists it’s not a salary cap, so sue me...).

Why the Whitecaps are dropping such clear hints without just coming out and making the official announcement doesn’t really make much sense, (but then neither does pricing the seats behind the goal as more expensive than the ones behind the corner flag...).