The Brian Ching-saga finally has an ending, whether it's a happy one depends entirely on your perspective. The 33-year-old is back with the Houston Dynamo after the Montreal Impact apparently grew tired of the game of chicken they had been playing, receiving a "conditional" draft pick for their troubles (UPDATE: It has been confirmed that the Impact will receive a first-round pick if Ching plays 20 matches.). As a part of the deal, numerous reports said the Ching agreed to a reworked deal with the Dynamo partly in exchange for being guaranteed a front-office job after he retires.
Brian Ching Officially Back With Houston Dynamo; Impact Receive Draft Pick
In a situation like this, there really aren’t winners, as the whole thing was a bit ugly. But the Dynamo seem to come out looking better than anyone else. They get the fan favorite they supposedly wanted all along and are able to enjoy whatever positive press they get when he runs out of the tunnel at BBVA Compass Stadium. For good measure, they get to do so while taking less of a salary cap hit on Ching’s salary than they would have if the Impact had never selected him.
Whatever gamble the Impact were making clearly didn’t pan out. Unless they received a first-round draft pick, which seems highly unlikely, they had to deal with plenty of negative press just to come out with a worse pick than they started with. Not having Ching in their starting lineup is not the end of the world by any means, but there were any number of players available in the expansion draft that will likely prove far more useful whoever they end up picking instead.
For more on Ching’s trade, be sure to check out Dynamo Theory.
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