Seattle Surge Reportedly Decline Record $2million Buyout For Pred
Huge moves have been on the cards in the Call of Duty League as of late, and ahead of the second Major qualifiers, OpTic Texas have bid a record fee for the Rookie of the Year and All-Star-second-team player Amer "Pred" Zulbeari.
After OpTic Texas crashed out of the first Major in 9-12th place, they decided to drop the 2022 MVP candidate Brandon "Dashy" Otell from the starting roster in a bid to prioritise team cohesion over star quality.
However, the Green Wall has had its first choice replacement debuted, as Seattle Surge rejected bids to bring Pred over to Texas, with the fee leaked to have been north of $2 million.
Seattle Surge Decline Record-Breaking Offer From OpTic Texas
OpTic's first choice was to bring over Australian superstar Amer "Pred" Zulbeari, who has lit up the league since breaking through last year. However, talks between Surge and OpTic have fallen through, with the Seattle-based org opting to fight for trophies rather than cash in.
With the record-breaking fee decline, OpTic has now signed free agent Cuyler "Huke" Garland as he was released from LAG, reuniting the "XEO" trio of himself, Indervir "iLLeY" Dhaliwal and Anthony "Shotzzy" Cuevas-Castro from the 2021 championship-winning Dallas Empire team.
Transfer buyouts in the CDL have rocketed in the last year as a last hail-mary attempt to lock in the best players to long contracts, with most teams about to enter an economic crunch.
Alec "Arcitys" Sanderson was purchased by Los Angeles Guerrillas for over $ 1 million in the pre-season, and New York Subliners reportedly offered a salary of $1.5m to retain their rising star Paco "HyDra" Rusiewiez.
OpTic Texas Reportedly Offered $2million To Buy Pred
After announcing the secondly-preferred Huke, Shotzzy took to Twitch to discuss the rostermania, claiming that Pred was held under a $2million buyout clause.
Pred also took to stream to admit he was open to the move and that "Everything that could have possibly happened to make it happen was attempted".
The decline deal might have only kicked the can down the road, with OpTic likely to come back in for their target following the retirement of Seth "Scump" Abner, although by this time, Pred's fee will presumably be much lower.