FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – On Monday morning the New England Revolution officially announced the re-signing of club captain Shalrie Joseph, who’ll return to Foxborough for his 10th season with the club in 2012.

Just a few hours later on Monday afternoon the Revs took the first step in providing Joseph with a new teammate, selecting former Toronto FC and New York Red Bulls defender/midfielder Danleigh Borman with the second overall pick in Stage 1 of the 2011 MLS Re-Entry Process. Vancouver Whitecaps FC held the top spot in the draft but chose to pass, making Borman the first player selected.

Borman is currently out of contract, so the 25-year-old South African will be extended a Bona Fide Offer by the league, which Borman will have the option to either accept or decline.
“I don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves,” said General Manager
Michael Burns
. “While we’re excited that we were able to [select Danleigh] in the first Re-Entry stage, he certainly hasn’t put pen to paper and he’s not added to our roster (yet).
“Obviously we didn’t draft him hoping we weren’t going to sign him, but having said that, the first step is with the league,” added Burns. “The league will now make a contract offer to him. (Head coach)
Jay (Heaps)
will reach out to Danleigh today and I would suspect in the near future I’ll be speaking with his agent and we’ll see if we can get something done.”
Should the Revs reach an agreement with Borman, they’d add versatility and depth on the left side. Borman has made 81 appearances with the Red Bulls and TFC since being drafted by New York in 2008 following a standout career at the University of Rhode Island, splitting his time between left back and left midfield. He made 22 appearances in Toronto this past season following an early-season trade which saw 2011 MLS MVP Dwayne De Rosario head to the Red Bulls.
Heaps has identified left back as one of the key positions the Revs aim to fill ahead of the 2012 season, and Borman’s ability to play that position, his experience within the league and his overall versatility are what prompted the Revs to select him on Monday.
“In talking with Jay, we just feel he adds something for us in terms of a left back or a left midfielder,” said Burns. “He has experience in the league. We just felt that he addresses one of our needs, so that’s why we made the selection.”
Regardless of whether Borman accepts the Bona Fide Offer and ultimately joins the Revs, a host of additional moves are expected in the coming weeks and months as New England looks to reconfigure its roster following an immensely frustrating 2011 campaign.
“We have a lot of other needs and we hope to bring in a bunch of additional players this offseason,” said Burns. “Last week with the re-signing of
Matt (Reis)
and with the re-signing of Shalrie, as the process continues, we need to add to our roster. Certainly some players are not on our roster any longer who were a couple months ago, and now we need to start adding players to our roster. We feel like [Borman’s] one of those pieces.”