RSL Signs Rafael Cabral

Written Jan 23 2025

RSL Signs Rafael Cabral on a Free Transfer

Real Salt Lake announced the signing of 35 year old Brazilian Rafael Cabral on January 21st. Rafael's contract was waived last month allowing him to join Real Salt Lake on a free. The goalkeeper was signed for 2 years. To see a brief overview of the player be sure to check out a link at the bottom of this article.

What does this mean for the Roster?

Since this rumor was released it was announced that both Zac MacMath and Gavin Beavers would be unavailable to start the year. Zac MacMath will be injured until the Summer and Gavin Beavers was transferred to Brondby. This means we have no starting goalkeepers. Cabral's singing along with the signing of Mason Stadjuhar lets us know who will be competing for the starting spot this season. I expect Rafael Cabral to come out on top in that. 

If you want my opinion Real Salt Lake expected to have at least one of last years starters on the roster for this season. If it was Gavin, he would start until he left for Europe. If it was Zac he would start until it's time to replace him with a younger talent. That gameplan is out the window now. I presume we will play Cabral and Macmath as much as we can until a viable youth player is ready, his two year contract indicates that might come in 2027. I am not exactly sure who that player is, it could be a new signing, draft pick, or academy player, we don't know yet. Make sure you follow @rslrooster on Twitter to get your best chance at finding out when it's announced.

Roster Construction Notes

The last reported Salary we have for Rafael was 1,000,000$ in 2021 for Reading in the English Championship. I would assume we signed him for less than half of that. I will be denoting him as an international senior roster player with a 400,000$ salary hit.