The 2025 NWSL season isn’t over yet, with the league final set to take place Saturday. But some are already looking ahead to what could prove to be a busy offseason — specifically when it comes to Trinity Rodman.
News about the star Washington Spirit forward’s ongoing negotiations with the league dropped on Saturday, shortly before Rodman and the Spirit won a semifinal against the Portland Thorns to return to the championship. That news hit the NWSL community like a load of bricks, reigniting the age-old debate about the league’s restrictive salary cap.
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Per multiple reports, Rodman’s representation is negotiating directly with the league on a new deal, with the 23-year-old forward set to become a free agent this offseason. The biggest issue right now is reportedly about Rodman’s pay — which is a problem for the Spirit, who can’t offer as much as the unrestricted, salary cap-less teams in Europe.
Under the current collective bargaining agreement, the NWSL’s salary cap will be $3.5 million (per team) in 2026, with the number set to grow to $5.1 million by the final year of the CBA in 2030. NWSL contracts amounts are not disclosed, but reports indicate that the highest-paid players in the league have multiyear deals between $2 million and $2.5 million.
That cap has been an equalizer across the league, with the NWSL often referring to the resulting “equity” — one of the league’s favorite buzzwords — as its greatest strength.
Rodman, as one of the faces of the league, the USWNT and women’s soccer as a whole (even when coming off an injury-ridden season), would be well within her right to ask for seven figures annually. But under the cap, that would mean the Spirit giving at least a third of its available money to Rodman alone.
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Rodman has explicitly stated her interest in playing abroad before, telling ESPN in March that it was “just a matter of when.” Though the forward seems happy in Washington, it’s also likely that the salary gap would be enough to make that “when” sooner rather than later.
Trinity Rodman will more than likely be joining some of her U.S. teammates in Europe next season.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
The salary cap is clearly at the top of mind for many in the league, even before reports on Rodman’s situation came out. During an interview with Yahoo Sports about the NWSL’s return to Decision Day, Gotham FC head coach Juan Carlos Amorós brought up the salary cap while talking about the league’s competitive balance.
“I think it’s something that really makes the NWSL special for me, that’s why it’s the best league in the world at the moment in terms of that competition,” Amorós said. “At the same time, I think part of the reason that competition is so tight is that we have this salary cap, where teams can spend up to a certain amount.
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“I think early (on) that’s good to keep us equal within the league. Now, I think that in order for us to be the best league in the world, then we probably need to have something moving with the market.”
Amorós said this in October, before the postseason even began and long before reports of a potential Rodman move hit. And the NWSL’s long-touted equity has served Amorós and Gotham well: Gotham, the lowest-seeded team in the playoffs, stunned the top-ranked Kansas City Current in the quarterfinals, then did it again against the Orlando Pride on Sunday to make the final.
But Amorós seems ready to readjust the league’s approach, pointing out the increased growth in women’s soccer across the world as a sign that it’s time for a change. In the NWSL, team valuations jumped to an average of $104 million last year (admittedly boosted by Angel City FC’s record sale), while viewership grew 22% this season, per the league.
However, other leagues are growing too. The Women’s Super League in England, for example, has experienced similar growth — and without a salary cap, it has the capacity to outpace the NWSL if given the room.
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Amorós also pointed to major American players heading to Europe, with USWNT regulars like Naomi Girma, Alyssa Thompson, Crystal Dunn and Jenna Nighswonger all crossing the pond last offseason. (Dunn and Nighswonger both played for Amorós’ Gotham team last season before making the move.)
“Obviously women’s football is growing and attendance is growing and, you know, revenue, income. And I think for us to be able to match some of these European teams, we probably have to look at the market and increase where the salary cap is,” Amorós said.
Amorós pointed out the major crossroads for the NWSL: to stand with the “equity” argument, or to expand the league to rival the rest of the world.
“Do we want to be equal just with the American teams, or (do) we wanna be the best teams in the world?” Amorós said. “We need to probably ask ourselves that question.”
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Whether the NWSL will ask itself that question, though, is unclear. Since the news about Rodman’s negotiations dropped, the NWSL has done what it usually does: double down.
In a statement to ESPN on Saturday, a league spokesperson called the salary cap “a critical part of our competitive framework,” but said that it is “doing everything we can to keep Trinity in the NWSL.” League commissioner Jessica Berman echoed a similar sentiment to CBS Sports before the Spirit took on the Thorns.
“The reason our league is the most competitive league in the world, the reason that three of our four games in the quarterfinals went to extra time is because of the salary cap,” Berman said. “It is because there is a mechanism that forces our teams to be able to compete with each other. We do not want or want to facilitate haves and have nots.”
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Rodman, for what it’s worth, has not changed her approach to the team in the wake of negotiations. After the Spirit’s win, Rodman crashed a broadcast interview with head coach Adrián González to pull him away for a team picture, and succinctly summarized her feelings about the team.
“Spirit’s awesome. Great coach, great team, let’s go!” she said, dragging González away with a smile.
All of this is to say that things are not settled with Rodman, nor with the salary cap. But the fluid situation raises questions about what kind of future the NWSL hopes to build — and whether the biggest names in the sport, Rodman included, will be able to be part of it.
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