The Fire declined contract options on seven players Monday, including Cary native Drew Conner.

Conner, a 24-year-old defender, signed with the Fire in December 2015. He made his MLS debut in 2017 and made 23 appearances for the Fire that season, including 10 starts. He played more than 1,000 minutes of action that season, recording one assist, and the Fire made the MLS postseason for the first time in five years.

His playing time dropped in 2018. Conner played in 12 games, making five starts.

A 2012 Cary-Grove graduate, Conner was the 2011 Northwest Herald Boys Soccer Player of the Year and the Gatorade Illinois Boys Soccer Player of the year. Conner played college soccer at Wisconsin.

He signed with the Fire in 2015 on a Homegrown Player contract, which allows MLS teams to bypass the draft to sign local players who participated in their academy system.