Real Salt Lake youth movement continues, inking first-round draft pick Kevin Bonilla to 4-year deal

The No. 18 overall pick out of Portland signed with the club through the 2024 season, with club options for 2025, 2026 and 2027, the team announced Wednesday.

Real Salt Lake added to its youth movement Wednesday, signing one of its MLS SuperDraft picks to a first-team deal for the third consecutive season.

First out of the gate was Kevin Bonilla, the No. 18 overall pick out of Portland and a dual USA-Honduras international who grew up in Dallas.

The 2023 MAC Hermann Trophy semifinalist was one of the top outside backs in the country, the reigning West Coast Conference Defender of the Year and the first Pilot drafted in the first round of the SuperDraft since Collen Warner in 2010.

The 22-year-old senior led Portland to a historic season in 2023, a 12-5 record and first-round bye in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1988. The Pilots boasted a home unbeaten streak of 26-0-2 that matched the longest in the nation, and led the WCC in 11 different categories, including scoring offense (2.65) and points per game (8.47).

“I’m excited to just have the opportunity, to be honest with you,” Bonilla said. “It’s been a tough road the past couple years in terms of my family stuff and other things going on. But just the team believing in me and giving me the opportunity is all I could ask for. Now it’s just on me to put the work in.

“I think first goal for anybody is to play, I understand that it’s going to take me impressing and me doing what I do. And you know, the whole reason RSL brought me here is for a certain reason in terms of how I play this year and past couple years. So I understand the challenge at hand and I’m ready for it.”

Bonilla joins former UCLA left back Derrick “Tommy” Silva in signing with RSL in the last week, after the Homegrown defender inked a deal with Salt Lake through the 2027 season.

The soon-to-be 22-year-old Tucson native featured in every match of his UCLA career, totaling 23 assists in 69 appearances that included a 2023 run to the Bruins’ first Pac-12 championship since 2014 and all-region second-team honors.

“I’ve had a chance to train under Pablo the past few summers,” said Silva, RSL’s 13th homegrown signing all-time who moved to Utah at age 15 to join the RSL Academy and made 63 appearances across three years with the U17 and U19 sides, as well as spot duty with Real Monarchs in the USL Championship. “I have been very impressed with his leadership and character, and it’s clear that the toughness and determination from his playing days have been transmitted onto the field through the way his teams play. I’m excited for the chance to learn from him and the whole staff, and I expect to improve as a player because I share the passion that he has for soccer. I think RSL has a lot of success coming in 2024. The consistency of the team over the past few years is a tribute to the experience and talent that the club has as a whole right now, and I think the trajectory of the team is only going up.”

Bonilla was one of six MLS SuperDraft picks by Real Salt Lake in 2024, though only him and Marshall star Matthew Bell are likely to sign with the organization as the club takes advantage of new league rules that allow players to return to college for their remaining eligibility.

Bell, a 6-foot native of Kingston, Jamaica, was the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year who set a single-season program record with 10 goals and 12 assists for the Thundering Herd, and became only the second player in Marshall history to register multiple 10-goal campaigns.

The additions come a week before RSL is set to open preseason training camp next Monday in Herriman, and with several reports linked to a handful of offseason departures. Club legend Damir Kreilach was out of contract and signed with the Vancouver Whitecaps, while notable reports have linked Jefferson Savarino and Rubio Rubin outside MLS — though nothing concrete has emerged as the offseason winds down.

Real Salt Lake is also set to part ways with another player today. Stay tuned.