Bye Bye BB: Chicago Fire FC declines contract option on Brandt Bronico

The “Grindset” era is over in Chicago.

The Chicago Fire announced today the club has declined the 2021 contract option on midfielder Brandt Bronico. The 25-year-old struggled for playing time under Raphael Wicky in 2020, but he remained a fan favorite because of his friendly, outgoing personality.

“We would like to thank Brandt for his contributions to the Club,” Fire Sporting Director Georg Heitz said in a statement. “He is a true professional and we wish him nothing but the best moving forward.”

“BB” was originally drafted by the Fire as the No. 47 overall pick in the 2017 MLS SuperDraft. He made 66 appearances for the club—40 of those starts—scoring two goals and racking up eight assists. He’s now eligible to participate in the MLS Re-Entry Draft, which will take place on Thursday, Dec. 17 and Tuesday, Dec. 22.

The Fire have 29 players under contract for 2021:

Goalkeeper (4): Chris Brady, Kenneth Kronholm, Bobby Shuttleworth, Gabriel Slonina

Defender (11): Jonathan Bornstein, Francisco Calvo, Jhon Espinoza, Johan Kappelhof, Miguel Navarro, Wyatt Omsberg, Mauricio Pineda, Andre Reynolds II, Boris Sekulić, Nicholas Slonina, Carlos Terán

Midfielder (12): Ignacio Aliseda, Javier Casas Jr., Elliot Collier, Przemysław Frankowski, Gastón Giménez, Brian Gutiérrez, Fabian Herbers, Álvaro Medrán, Djordje Mihailović, Alex Monis, Allan Rodríguez, Luka Stojanović

Forward (2): Robert Berić, Chinonso Offor