Oakland Roots announced they signed center-back Michael Edwards to a contract on Monday.
There’s been a clear approach by Roots’ technical staff in adding players around the “peak age range” of 25-years-old. Edwards is now the fifth new player added to the roster in that specific age demographic, joining Keegan Tingey, Jesus De Vicente, David Garcia, and Mark Fisher.
Edwards comes to the club with familiarity with new head coach Ryan Martin, who helped develop the defender at D.C. United’s academy in 2018.
“Michael Edwards is someone I’ve known and worked with since his youth career, so it’s especially exciting to be reunited here in Oakland,” Martin said. “He’s grown tremendously as both a player and a person, and we’re excited to welcome him into our environment and continue that journey together. He’s an extremely athletic center back who brings toughness, competitiveness, and presence to the way we defend.”
Edwards will contend for a starting center-back role against Neveal Hackshaw, David Garcia, and Julian Bravo. Fisher is another player who will compete for time after joining Roots with experience at CB in MLS Next Pro.
He is now the 19th player added to the roster, bringing Roots a bit closer to the 30-man limit. Oakland entered last season with 27 players on the active roster, seven of whom were on Academy contracts. With that, Oakland could still add some depth. Just three out-and-out fullbacks are currently signed (Ilya Alekseev, Tingey, De Vicente), so perhaps that is the final gap to fill.
So what are Roots getting in Edwards?
Edwards was loaned from the Colorado Rapids of MLS to Charleston Battery in May 2025, appearing 12 times for 584 minutes. He started six of his first seven appearances for Charleston in May and mid-June, but didn’t make his seventh start until late October.
He spent the previous year on the fringe of the Rapids’ first team and got most of his time in MLS Next Pro with 756 minutes on Rapids 2.
Long passing should be an important part of Martin’s system. He had 3.24 accurate long balls per match in Charleston, but was among the top passers in MLS Next Pro in 2024 — recording 5.88 long completions per match to finish in the top 15 percent of players at his position. His most active year was 2023 with 1,506 MLS Next Pro minutes, when he averaged a tick better with 5.92 longballs per match.
Edwards was strong defensively in 2024, averaging 2.24 tackles per match to sit in the top 13 percent of defenders. He also won the ball twice in the opponent’s final third, which could prove useful in Martin’s aggressive system.
Edwards, 25, spent his early years in D.C. United’s youth academy in 2018 and ventured to VfL Wolfsburg in Germany the following two years. He was signed to VfL Wolfsburg II in 2019 and returned to the States with Colorado Rapids of MLS in 2021.
During his time on Rapids, he had loan spells with Colorado Springs Switchbacks (2021, 2022), Rapids 2 (2022, 2024), and San Antonio FC (2023).
For his career, Edwards has appeared in 52 matches and started 41 times for 3,684 minutes, scoring four goals and recording two assists.