Sources: Joel Waterman Traded to Chicago Fire
CF Montréal’s Joel Waterman has been traded to the Chicago Fire, sources confirmed to MIR97 Media. Maxime Truman also reported the trade earlier this morning.
The Fire will part with a base of $500,000 of General Allocation Money spread across this season and next ($200,000 in 2025, and $300,000 in 2026). A pair of add-on packages of $50,000 could also go to Montréal if he's still on the roster at the start of the 2027 season, and if he starts 60% of league matches next season. The Fire are also not taking on his full salary.
The Fire view Waterman as a solid starter for the rest of this season and a potential high-level backup going forward. The Canadian international defender has spent close to six seasons in Montréal and made 130 MLS appearances, scoring four times. Waterman will require an international roster slot, which the Fire currently do not have but are working to acquire in the coming hours.
The move comes on the same day that the Fire bid farewell to defender Carlos Terán. The Colombian is on the way to Brazilian Serie B club Athletico Paranaense and said farewell to his teammates and staff this morning. The Fire received a hefty amount of GAM from the Terán sale, which is being used to help fund his Canadian replacement.
Waterman, who turns 30 in a few months, will be expected to start right away for the Fire, who had made Terán their starter at right center back since he returned from a four-month injury in July. Jack Elliott has been locked into the lineup as the team's captain, but has seen a rotating cast of partners like Sam Rogers, Omar González, and top prospect Christopher Cupps. Waterman was a starter in a back three on Montréal's excellent 2022 roster, which finished second in the Eastern Conference and reached the Conference Semifinals under Wilfried Nancy.
Waterman is the next in a long line of trades between Montréal and Chicago. In previous seasons, players like Ariel Lassiter, Fabian Herbers, Kei Kamara, Chinonso Offor, and Djordje Mihailovic have moved between the two clubs. The signing of Waterman – the first such trade between Montréal and Chicago since new Head Coach and Director of Football Gregg Berhalter took over in October – marks a continuation of one of the league's longest-standing relationships.
For the Fire, Waterman represents a short-term fix at center back that could help the team for the rest of this season. Cupps is expected to be the long-term starter at the position, but at just 17, he isn't ready to be depended upon as an every-game starter yet, and hasn't featured in MLS since a two-month leg fracture injury he picked up in June. Waterman, Cupps, and Rogers will likely compete for starting minutes down the stretch as the Fire look to reach the postseason for the first time since 2017.
