This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Monday signaled the start to Major League Soccer's offseason: An air-tight, six-week window between the hours after the Portland Timbers hoisted their first MLS Cup trophy to the first day of entrance physicals, slated for Jan. 22, 2016.

MLS also kicked off another offseason by announcing late Monday evening players eligible for the inaugural round of free agency as well as the 2015 Re-Entry Draft. Only one Real Salt Lake representative was on either list: Center back Chris Schuler, who is currently out-of-contract at RSL.

The injury-plagued 28-year-old defender is still recovering — on time — from successful foot surgery in early September. His timetable for the repair of a navicular fracture in his left foot was 4-to-6 months. When healthy, the 6-foot-4 center back asserted himself as one of the premier defenders in the league. But health has been a recurring issue his whole career.

In six seasons at RSL, Schuler has had 80 league appearances, 72 of which were starts. He started just four games in 2015 after undergoing knee surgery in April and surgery again in September to fix the foot fracture.

RSL general manager Craig Waibel told the Tribune last week retaining Schuler remains a priority, but added there is hesitancy in re-signing an injured player who is a ways away from being fit and available with another season around the corner.

"Chris is on the right path, but there's always concerns," Waibel said. "With the [CONCACAF] Champions League being so early in the year, it's very, very difficult to view a situation where Chris would be ready to go."

Stage 1 of the Re-Entry Draft is Friday, Dec. 11, at 1 p.m. Teams have until 3 p.m. Thursday to re-sign or trade their Re-Entry Draft eligible players. Stage 2 of the Re-Entry Draft is scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 17.

RSL has the fifth pick in the Re-Entry Draft.

The league announced 26 players who are eligible for free agency, which begins Tuesday at 11 a.m. Free agents, per new league policies, may engage in negotiations with any club they so desire. Former RSL players Ned Grabavoy, Nathan Sturgis and Kyle Reynish are part of the inaugural free agents.

In the Re-Entry pool are former RSL defenders Lovel Palmer and Kwame Watson-Siriboe as well as former RSL forward Robbie Findley, all of whom are available.

Three trades went down on Day 1, too. D.C. United dealt midfielder Chris Pontius to the Philadelphia Union in exchange for general and targeted allocation money. United later acquired Seattle Sounder Lamar Neagle for allocation money.

The Houston Dynamo acquired Cristian Maidana, who led MLS with 15 assists in 2015, along with Andrew Wenger in exchange for general and targeted allocation money as well as the No. 6 pick in the 2016 MLS SuperDraft.

-Chris Kamrani

Twitter: @chriskamrani