Sporting KC Waives Freeman and Barber

Sporting Kansas City announced that forwards Grayson Barber and Tyler Freeman were waived.

Freeman was signed in 2018 to a Homegrown contract when he was just 15 years old, making him the second-youngest player in club history. He first joined Sporting KC’s Academy in 2014 at age 11 and impressed at each level in the Academy. Freeman also represented the United States with the U-14, U-16 and U-17 national teams.

Freeman, played 35 USL Championship matches for Sporting KC II but was not able to stake claim to a regular starting spot. SKC had loaned the 19-year-old to German side Karlsruher FC’s U-19 team last year where he made four appearances. SKC recalled him prior to the 2022 preseason.

Freeman becomes just the fourth Homegrown signing to not make a first team appearance. Matt Lewis, Zach Wright and Brooks Thompson are the others. Wright is the only one to not play for SKC II.

Barber, 21, made nine appearances with two starts in MLS after signing with Sporting KC in 2021. The South Carolina native played for the Sporting KC Academy from 2015 through 2017 before going to Clemson from 2018-2020. Barber helped Clemson win the ACC Championship and make deep runs in the College Cup before signing a Homegrown contract with SKC.

With the two Homegrown players waived, Sporting Kansas City now has 26 players under MLS contract for the 2022 season with one more forward expected to be announced this week.

It is unclear at this time if this was a move to create space for additional Homegrown players, an opportunity for them to catch on somewhere they might get more time or another issue.

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Goalkeepers (3): Kendall McIntosh, Tim Melia, John Pulskamp

Defenders (9): Andreu Fontas, Kortne Ford, Nicolas Isimat-Mirin, Logan Ndenbe, Kayden Pierre, Kaveh Rad, Ben Sweat, Robert Voloder, Graham Zusi

Midfielders (8): Jake Davis, Cam Duke, Roger Espinoza, Felipe Hernandez, Gadi Kinda, Jose Mauri, Uri Rosell, Remi Walter

Forwards (6): Ozzie Cisneros, Alan Pulido, Johnny Russell, Daniel Salloi, Khiry Shelton, Marinos Tzionis

Transaction: Sporting Kansas City (MLS) waives forwards Grayson Barber and Tyler Freeman.