Peter Vermes has used the word “rebuild” sparingly during his long tenure at the helm of Sporting Kansas City.

The club has rarely been at that point, either. But after finishing the 2024 season Saturday with a 2-1 defeat, Sporting has hit its lowest point — and lowest point total — in a season since 1999.

For that, Vermes is ready to use that word.

As many as 16 Sporting KC players will see their contracts expire or face a club option with the offseason underway, so a roster rebuild is coming. Sporting has until November 27 to make and publicize those roster decisions, for which Vermes is preaching patience.

With no playoffs on the horizon, Sporting has time — for the first time in a while. Vermes wants his staff to consider several factors, including those beyond X’s and O’s.

“I think when you’re in a situation like (we were) in this year, what happens is your culture bleeds,” Vermes said. “And you have to stop that.”

Rebuilding the culture

Sporting KC has long been viewed as a club with an established culture. Fans and media members alike have heard Vermes discuss Sporting’s four core values: team-first, strong work ethic, intelligence and pursuit of excellence daily.

Vermes hinted that a culture shift was needed throughout the season. Going back to a 2-1 home loss to the Houston Dynamo, Vermes blasted his squad’s mentality.

“That’s not Sporting Kansas City mentality,” Vermes said, describing the effort to stop Houston’s game-winning goal. “I have a real problem with that aspect of it. I’ll be dealing with that very quickly because that’s just unacceptable to me.”

Too many times in 2024, those moments occurred.

“That never changed with the emphasis that was put on defending the game well,” Vermes said on Tuesday. “It was a concern. But going forward, there’s things that have to change, and a big part of that is mentality. And that’s going to be up to myself (and) the rest of the staff to make sure that happens.”

A changing of the guard can be part of the cultural reset, especially with so many contracts up.

Johnny Russell, Andreu Fontás, Tim Melia and Remi Walter are among that group, each with expiring contracts. Sporting has club options — there are no player or mutual options in Major League Soccer — on 12 additional players.

While Vermes wasn’t willing to discuss players returning or leaving yet, he did offer this message to those who do come back:

“Whether it’s Johnny or Tim … whoever it is, they have to come back with a completely different mentality moving into the next year,” Vermes said.

The roster rebuild

So how will a roster rebuild look? And what’s the timeline?

Vermes anticipates most of the moves to take place within the next three transfer windows, emphasizing the two winter windows since those are the two primary windows for MLS.

While plenty of movement is expected this winter, roster movement the following winter window — heading into 2026 — could be just as fluid.

Only three players have contracts guaranteed through 2026, and seven have options for 2026 after the 2025 season.

The means there’s the potential for more than two-thirds of the roster to be flipped by the start of 2026. While those numbers will change with the expected influx of new talent during the offseason, it’s a significant reason why Vermes has emphasized the two winter windows.

Vermes said he feels this is an opportunity to build a new foundation, as the first step, and then to continue maintaining it year to year, as the second. He used the analogy of a garden to drive home his point.

Drawing on Sporting’s previous run of success, the club planted the garden and then needed only to “trim the bushes,” Vermes said, maintaining the roster around a core that kept the team in the postseason from 2011 to 2018.

Now, Vermes continued, “you’re replanting the garden again, and then you’re going to be, hopefully, trimming the bushes as you go.”

As Vermes and sporting director Mike Burns build this next version of Sporting KC, Vermes wants to add durable players with the right mentality and a hunger “to be the best as an individual.”

“I think sometimes there can be a level of complacency,” Vermes said. “We need that hunger.”

Among the many expected additions, Sporting can add at least one designated player on the high-dollar side and potentially a second.

Of those two spots, Vermes believes one needs to be a No. 10 — an attacking midfielder. Vermes wants someone creative who can make the final pass, score and bring leadership qualities.

And Sporting is willing to spend big, too. Vermes was explicitly asked if Sporting was willing to spend the acquisition cost and salary in the realm of Alan Pulido, a club-record signing and highest salary to date.

“Yes, on all accounts,” Vermes said. “I believe the budget’s there.”

He continued.

“That’s a very important piece to us moving forward,” he added. “So one of our DP slots will for sure be used in that position.”

Daniel Sperry covers soccer for The Star. He can be reached at sperry.danielkc@gmail.com.