D.C. United acquired midfielder Lamar Neagle from the Seattle Sounders on Monday and dealt Chris Pontius to Philadelphia in two trades involving allocation money.
Pontius was D.C.'s longest-serving player, but at $400,000 he made more than double Neagle's double in 2015.
He also was sidelined two months with a calf injury, then missed the Eastern Conference semifinals with a bad hamstring.
Neagle was a hometown favorite who had played for Seattle for the past three seasons and four of the previous five seasons in MLS.
He played a variety of roles in the midfield and occasionally at forward for the Sounders.
Two seasons ago, Neagle had a career-high nine goals and nine assists in 32 games. This season, the 28-year-old had just two goals and four assists.
"Lamar is a talented player whose speed and versatility will allow us to create a more dynamic attack," United general manager Dave Kasper said in a statement. "His work rate is top notch and we are very excited to welcome him to our club."
Neagle's trade is the latest move in an offseason makeover for Seattle. The club also declined to extend contract options to Gonzalo Pineda and Marco Pappa.
Also on Monday, the Union received the Houston Dynamo's first-round pick in January's SuperDraft and allocation money in exchange for Cristian Maidana and Andrew Wenger.
Maidana, 28, had 15 assists last season, tied for the second-most in the league. Wenger was the former No. 1 pick in the 2012 draft.
"We set out this offseason with a clear direction and this helps us start that process" Union technical director Chris Albright said. "We greatly value the increased cap flexibility, as well as the opportunity to have two high picks in the upcoming draft, increasing our ability to re-shape the roster.
"Cristian and Andrew should be commended for their time here and we wish them the best of luck."
D.C. United declined contract options on forward Jairo Arrieta and midfielder Michael Farfan, and waived Facundo Coria. The picked up the options for Fabian Espindola, Sean Franklin, Steve Birnbaum, Taylor Kemp, Chris Korb, Luke Mishu, Travis Worra, Conor Doyle, Miguel Aguilar and Jared Jeffrey.