With the contract deadline at 1 p.m. EST Monday, New York City FC were forced to show their hand and announce whose options were picked up and whose were declined. While several unexpected players had their options exercised, a few fan favorites will seemingly not return next year.
Kwame Awuah, Ronald Matarrita, Andre Rawls, Khiry Shelton, and Ben Sweat all had their options picked up. Matarrita does not come as a surprise as he has been an NYCFC mainstay when healthy, and Sweat was a brilliant offseason edition last year.