This was not expected a few months ago:

J.T. at the Inquirer was on this story Wednesday.

The CliffsNotes here is that Kai’s contract was up, he had European interest, and was almost certainly gone after five years of All-Star level fullback play. He even had a going away hibachi party inside someone’s garage.

Then came the November suspension for using a racial slur against New England’s Bobby Wood. Wagner missed the rest of the postseason and we all thought that one of the best players in Philadelphia Union history would quietly exit under disappointing circumstances.

That’s why it’s super-surprising to see him back on a three-year contract with a 2027 option. But make no mistake, Wagner was the best player on the team last season and has been one of Major League Soccer’s best fullbacks going on several seasons now. Getting him back is a huge boon for a team that’s pretty stale at the current moment. And don’t listen to any of the doofuses who say that MLS is Kai’s ceiling, because the guy could go to numerous overseas leagues and walk right into those starting lineups. He’s not a Liverpool shoe-in, but he could very easily play in a second-tier European league like Portugal, Turkey, Netherlands, Belgium, Greece, etc. In the past, he’s been linked to Marseille, Red Star, Leeds, and Rangers, I think he’s more than capable of playing for any of those teams.

I do have to say I’m a little surprised that there hasn’t been more pushback against the Union for re-signing a guy who used a racial slur. The Union fan base has always been pragmatic and thoughtful, but maybe they’re also more forgiving than anyone realized. It does have to be reiterated that Kai admitted to using the slur and cooperated with Major League Soccer, which helped him immensely in the public perception department. He took the proper reconciliatory steps. But let’s be honest with ourselves here – if Kai played for the Portland Timbers he would have been pitchforked to the airport the following day. Those west coast clubs with large, liberal fan bases would have reacted with much more fervor and shown much less tolerance for a transgression that carries this level of seriousness. That’s not an indictment on anyone in particular, just an observation based on years of recent examples. Look at how Galaxy fans reacted to the Aleksandar Katai incident. The guy took 10x more flack than Kai Wagner, when he himself didn’t commit the offense. It was his wife who went on Instagram and used racial slurs to describe BLM protestors.

It’s hard to find perfectly-matching, like-for-like comparisons, but you get the point. I think Kai Wagner would have been run out of town if he played for 8-10 other teams in the league. In this case, maybe Union fans see a guy who has been doing the right things and deserves a second chance. That’s my observation.