LEHI — A season ago, RSL defender Chris Wingert established himself as one of the most consistent fullbacks in MLS.
He started in all but one of RSL's regular-season games, he played in every minute of every one of RSL's three postseason games and at some point along the way, it became obvious that his worth was more than what his contract was paying him.
So this offseason, Wingert pointed that out to his club, and as it turned, the guys that run RSL agreed with him.
It took a while to finalize a new contract, but Wingert agreed to a new deal on Tuesday that will keep him with RSL through the 2012 season, quashing rumors that he could potentially be leaving the club.
"I think it was just a situation where everything's relative," Wingert said. "There's always gonna be guys that are better than you that are making less money, and there's guys that aren't as good as you that are making more money. I think that's true for any sport around the world.
"But I felt like I was in a situation where I was contributing to the team and playing a lot and doing well. I was happy with where I was at, but I felt like I should be making some more money. And so obviously I spoke to the staff about it, and they were great about it."
His teammates couldn't be happier to see Wingert put pen to paper on a new deal.
"Wingert's one of those guys that you just love to play with every day in training and in every game because he works so hard and he is so solid," said defender Nat Borchers.
Wingert, who's 27, was called into a U.S. National team camp over the winter and made his first international appearance against Sweden on Jan. 24.
RSL coach Jason Kreis said he believed Wingert had the potential to become that type of player when he signed him from waivers midway through the 2007 season, and so far, that's certainly been the case.
Not that Kreis is 100-percent satisfied with his fullback yet.
"I think now he's come very close to his potential, but I think he could do even better," Kreis said. "We're looking for him to take the next step this year."
E-MAIL: drasmussen@desnews.com