TRANSFER TRACKER STATUS: Extension
Real Salt Lake and forward Corey Baird have agreed to a new long-term contract, the club announced Friday. The deal keeps Baird with the team for the next four seasons.
Baird, 23, has spent two seasons with the club after signing a Homegrown Player contract. He has 13 goals and nine assists in 62 regular season appearances and was named 2018 AT&T MLS Rookie of the Year. He made his US national team debut last year and has accrued four caps.
“Corey’s versatility in the attack and work rate make him an important piece to our roster, so keeping him here long-term was on our to-do list over the off-season,” club GM Elliot Fall said in a club statement. “We take pride in the work our staff has done in aiding his development and we are eager to see where his continued development can take him."
Baird has helped lead RSL to the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs in the last two seasons. The versatile forward, who can be utilized on either wing or through the center, starred at Stanford for four seasons, where he won three national championships.
“I’m happy to sign with Real Salt Lake long-term,” Baird said in a statement. "Knowing the club has put this trust in me and showing they value me as a player feels really good and I’m hoping I can repay them for their trust and the fans for their support.”
Baird made 31 appearances last season, a prominant member of the club's deep and talented attacking core alongside Jefferson Savarino, Albert Rusnak, Sam Johnson and others.
