By this time tomorrow DeRo and Toronto FC will either be a closed book, or a new chapter will have been started. If the "boy from Scarborough" isn't back with the Reds after the re-entry draft he will never make his return.
That could be a good thing. His personality is huge and it hangs over TFC to this day. If his return is off the table then maybe closing the door forever will start to make that fade.
Will it be a good thing if the new, assumedly final, chapter is started tomorrow? That's a much more difficult question to answer and one that will divide TFC fans.
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For the sake of balance, the reasons it could fail are as follows: His personality is such that he could cause unrest in dressing room, he's too old, he will undermine an inexperienced manager like Ryan Nelsen, the young Canadians could be negatively influenced by him, he might take up too much cap space and, ultimately, if he creates another train wreck at TFC any improvement to the club's reputation that's happened under new management will go out the window.
So, there is some risk. If those are legitimate concerns the TFC front office has this is a move that should not take place.
And, that is what it comes down to. If old management was in place (and DeRo decided to forgive them) bringing DeRo back might be done strictly for sentimentality and marketing reasons. The hope is -- and there is good reason to think this is the case -- that new management won't think of the move in that way.
Tim Bezbatchenko will know what the issues are. They will have done due diligence on the signing. If they do bring him back they will have been convinced that the above concerns are unfounded.
Bluntly, there is no way TFC moves for DeRo if they think he isn't completely on board with the club's plans for him. He would have been told how they planed to use him and what the expectations are. Either he's agreed, and they believe him, or they will take a pass.
Some will suggest that DeRo might con TFC into thinking that he's on board, but then still cause an issue. That's a risk. Handicapping such a move will come down to whether you trust Bez and Nelsen's judge of character.
Putting aside the intangible concerns -- and we won't have an answer to whether the concerns are valid until the season starts to play out -- does bringing DeRo back make sense from a football perspective.
It might. In fact, the upside of the move might be as great as any TFC makes this season. If he bounces back to even 2/3 of his peak performance he provides TFC with an attacking presence that no one else in MLS could provide. Remember, he'd be a third option. Giving him that extra space could potentially lead to something very special.
All signings are about risk/reward and with DeRo both sides of that gamble are huge.
If, and it's a big if, granted, it works out then it's a game changing signing.
It would also be another sign that TFC is aiming higher than just making the playoffs. You don't take the risk if you are aiming for the middle.
The question no one knows is whether DeRo is willing to come back in a reduced role. On MLS Extra Time Radio he was pretty clear that he feels he still has a lot to add to a MLS team and that he doesn't want to be coming in to a rebuilding team.
He also said that he was "agreeable" to the direction that TFC was going. If you read between the lines of the interview what was clear was that he viewed new TFC different from old. There was no way to know if Toronto was his preferred destination, but he certainly didn't rule them out.
If you listened to the interview, absorbed noises coming out of TFC and MLS circles and kept an ear to the ground you'll come away with one solid conclusion. That is that this was seriously looked at by both parties and that whatever the decision is management will be comfortable with it.
Will it happen? Just 24-hours away, I'm still not willing to make an absolute call. I believe it's the best option for DeRo though and if TFC does pass it will be because he legitimately doesn't want to come home unless the terms are entirely his and the club has determined that.
That would be too bad, because the story of DeRo coming home and proving that he can be a team player is a compelling one. He could go win another MLS Cup elsewhere, but nothing would make for a better final chapter than doing right by his hometown team.