Not necessarily. Under the proposed changes, teams can still sign older DPs, as long as the team has one that is under 23.
......, then if this is what that product strategy committe wants to do, then they will do it.
A few more points from that article from The Athletic that should be mentioned:
- this so called (influential) product strategy committe is co-chaired by FC Dallas co-owner Clark Hunt and Whitecaps co-owner Greg Kerfoot being an influential voice in that group - these are 2 lower spending teams
- also included (per sources) are Seattle owner Adrian Hanauer, Portland owner Merritt Paulson, LAFC part-owner Larry Berg, Red Bull global head of soccer Oliver Mintzlaff, City Football Group chief Ferran Soriano, Galaxy president Chris Klein, Atlanta president Darren Eales, and Sporting Kansas City owner Mike Illig - a mix of high spending and low spending teams
- it is this group that votes on whether to recommend proposals like those regarding changes to DP rules to the MLS board of governors, who then typically rubber stamps their recommendations.
- there is some concern that with these changes, it takes away automony from teams. Executives want to run the clubs they see fit. If one wants to sign three expensive 30 year old DPs, then they should be able to.
- these discussions, which are been done internally in the league, for changes to the DP rules are separate from the ongoing CBA changes. It appears that as per the current CBA, the owners can make these changes outside of collective bargaining. They are expected to hang onto this power though the negotiations.
- changes to the DP slot were also discussed late summer of 2018, but were ultimately not adopted. The fact that it is been discussed again 18 months later may mean there is a league wide appetite for restricting that third DP slot.
- whether changes are made or not remains to be seen.