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Grading the Inter Miami payroll: Bargains (other than Messi) and busts

By one highly unscientific measure -- pay per minute played in Major League Soccer competitions this year -- Noah Allen and Yannick Bright provide the highest value on the league's most expensive roster.
ByKen Garner|
Yannick Bright has excelled for Inter Miami CF despite being the Herons' lowest paid player.
Yannick Bright has excelled for Inter Miami CF despite being the Herons' lowest paid player. | Roger Wimmer/ISI Photos/GettyImages
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Young Herons stars providing Inter Miami better value in MLS play

Lionel Messi is Major League Soccer's highest-paid player, and it's not even close, so it might be reasonable to think Inter Miami's captain earns more per minute than any of his teammates, right?

Wrong. Seldom-used center back Ryan Sailor makes $104,000 per MLS minute played, about four times Messi's $18,337.81. Messi's pay per league minute isn't even second highest on the team; midfielder Balthazar Rodriguez is earning $24,444.44 per MLS minute played. On the other end of the scale, it's not really surprising that fan favorites Noah Allen ($105.73), Yannick Bright ($105.88) and Ian Fray ($224.55) more than earn their keep considering their importance to the Pink & Black and their compensation per league minute played.

The Major League Soccer Players' Association recently released its 2025 Salary Guide, providing a wealth of information about each team's payroll. For example, Inter Miami CF has three players (Messi, Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets) whose guaranteed compensation in 2025 is greater than the league's TEAM salary cap ($5.9 million). No, I haven't tried to understand why that is so, but unless you're new to MLS, you know the league regularly rewrites its rules to accommodate its wishes.

Eleven Inter Miami CF players currently make less than $1,000 per league minute played, included regulars Telasco Segovia, Oscar Ustari, Ben Cremaschi, Gonzalo Lujan, Maxi Falcon and Toto Aviles. Twelve Herons are earning between $1,000 and $10,000; Messi is the only player who sees regular minutes making more than $10,000 per minute played.

Three players on the roster -- William Yarborough, Tyler Hall and Israel Boatright -- haven't seen MLS action, so don't have a per-minute rate.

See the next slide for a breakdown of all the Herons' current compensation per league minute played (the rates obviously will go down as players get more minutes over the final 18 matches).