Both midfielder and former captain Logan Pause and striker Chris Rolfe have opted out of the second phase of the MLS Re-Entry Draft and are close to signing new deals with the team, Chicago-Fire.com’s Jeff Crandall reported on Tuesday.
Neither player had their option exercised after the season, but the club stated shortly after that they would try to renegotiate with each player for an extension at a reduced salary.
Pause, who has played for the team since 2003, started the year as the team’s starting defensive midfielder, but lost playing time to Jeff Larentowicz, who often wore the captain’s armband, and to injury as the season progressed. Rolfe was a starter for the team at striker to begin the year, but was supplanted by mid-season acquisitions Mike Magee and Juan Luis Anangono as the team got off to a very slow start offensively, going three games without a goal to start the 2013 campaign.
Midfielder Corben Bone was selected from the Fire by the Philadelphia Union in the first phase of the Re-Entry Draft.