Fire Announce 2026 Roster Decisions
The Chicago Fire announced their roster decisions for the end of the 2025 season, and they came out just about as expected. Unlike last season, when incoming Head Coach and Director of Football Gregg Berhalter planned to turn over more than half of the roster, this year sees just a few departures, and none are unexpected.
In terms of options being picked up, Jack Elliott is the most notable. The center back was signed to a one-year deal during free agency last December with a club option to extend it by one season, an option that has now been exercised. This comes as absolutely no surprise since Elliott has been a leader on the back line and was made captain midway through the season. He started every single Fire game in 2025 across all competitions, barring one, and played every single minute in Major League Soccer besides the one game against the New York Red Bulls, which he missed through injury.
The only other player who will return for 2026 was David Poreba, who missed most of 2025 through injury. The local-area talent was signed before the season after being the MLS Next Pro MVP last year, but tore his ACL early in preseason. Despite a quicker-than-expected return to Fire II action, he could not get fit enough in time to contribute in MLS. Poreba signed a new one-year deal with club options for 2027 and 2028.
In terms of departures, there is also nothing unexpected. Omar González did have a 2026 option in his contract, but it has been declined, and he is instead signing with Fire II as a player-coach in a move announced earlier on Wednesday. Chase Gasper also officially departs the club following a failed stint in Chicago – the once-capped USMNT left back joined in essentially a free move before 2024 that did not hit the salary cap, but various injuries meant he never featured for the first team after April 2024.
Tom Barlow's departure was also confirmed as his 2026 option was declined by the club. The 30-year-old spent two seasons in Chicago and scored five goals. All three of his 2025 goals came in one match, a 7-1 drubbing of D.C. United during the June international break, which earned him MLS Player of the Matchday honors, and was the Fire's first hat trick since 2017. Had Barlow still been on the Fire's roster by roster compliance (set for February 20th, 2026), the Fire would have owed the New York Red Bulls an additional $50,000 of General Allocation Money as a clause in his November 2023 trade.
Also, as expected, the purchase option on Rominigue Kouamé's loan contract was not picked up. The Malian international midfielder had some great moments in a Fire shirt, including important goals against the Vancouver Whitecaps, Atlanta United, and Inter Miami, but never fully acclimated to life in America during his year-long spell with the club. His return to Cádiz has been expected since the summer, even if he did have a brief late-season renaissance with starts against Miami, New England, and both Round 1 playoff games against Philadelphia. Kouamé has already been replaced by incoming Swedish midfielder Anton Salétros, who is also left-footed, but whose one-footedness seems to be less of a liability than Kouamé's.
Finally, the departure of Bryan Dowd is now official. The young goalkeeper was the sixth overall pick in the 2024 MLS SuperDraft but unfortunately did not pan out as hoped with his hometown team. Throughout his tenure, Dowd struggled to lock down a starting job with Fire II, seeing Patrick Los get the lion's share of the minutes in 2024 and 2025, and when he departed for university, David Molenda stepped in to fill that void. The Fire have already signed Owen Pratt to a Fire II deal (and first team homegrown deal for 2027), as well as Jason Nemo on a Next Pro contract, so the goalkeeper position is set for the second team.
