The National Women’s Soccer League board of governors is currently having advanced discussions to create a new roster mechanism, allowing teams to pay players “significantly” beyond the current salary cap, according to multiple league sources who were not authorized to speak freely on the topic. ESPN first reported the rule change proposal, which could pass ahead of next week’s board meeting involving team owners and commissioner Jessica Berman. The potential rule change comes as the NWSL and th
The potential rule change comes as the NWSL and the Washington Spirit work hand in hand to sign star forward and free agent Trinity Rodman to a new deal. However, the sources indicated that the change in approach to the salary cap is “bigger than one player,” and while it may resolve the ongoing negotiations with Rodman and her representation, there is no solution yet and no contract has been signed.
There is also the issue of a grievance filed by the NWSL Players Association against the league on Rodman’s behalf over collective bargaining agreement violations, which the rule change would not directly resolve. Even if Rodman signs a new contract under a proposed new rule, the grievance over the league’s “flagrant” violation of her free agency rights would not necessarily be settled.
Despite being prompted by the ongoing Rodman talks, the change does not serve as a designated player rule akin to the one in Major League Soccer, created to help the LA Galaxy sign David Beckham in 2007. That move has since helped teams sign players like Son Heung-min, Thomas Muller and Lionel Messi. Instead, the potential new NWSL rule will function more as a shift from a hard salary cap to a softer one.
As currently proposed, there will not be a penalty or luxury tax for any team that opts to exceed the salary cap, helping teams sign players who are increasingly demanding salaries upwards of $1 million. Teams are not limited to using the money on one player as long as salaries meet certain requirements that are not yet clear. Sources believe the approach to the rule change has been to keep it as simple as possible, allow for flexibility in terms of players it can apply to and potentially allow for further refinement.
Currently, the NWSL CBA has a minimum base salary cap each season for the length of the agreement, which runs until 2030. In 2025, the figure was $3.3 million, which then increased to $3.5 million after the teams’ revenue share was added, per the CBA. The board proposal allows spending beyond that final threshold up to a certain amount.
That approach is reminiscent of allocation money, which the league introduced ahead of the 2020 season to let teams “buy” money from the league in order to pay top talent competitive salaries. In 2023, the league also allowed teams to use allocation money to minimize the cap hit for players by using it to pay off bonuses and benefits. The NWSL announced it would phase out allocation money as part of rule changes announced this summer, though teams would have until December 2027 to use those funds.
The key difference between allocation money and the new proposed mechanism is that, rather than going through the NWSL as a middleman for transactions, teams would be able to spend directly on player salaries outside of the cap.
If the board approves the changes, Rodman and her representation still need to agree on a new contract. The team’s initial offer to Rodman, which she agreed to, was a four-year, multimillion-dollar one that would have paid the 23-year-old significantly more than $1 million a year. Commissioner Jessica Berman vetoed the agreement, saying it violated the “spirit” of the rules.
Rodman’s ongoing contract saga has garnered national attention. On Thursday, the Democratic Women’s Caucus, led by Rep. Emily Randall, sent an open letter to Berman concerning that veto and if it violated the CBA. Per the letter, Congress has interest in the situation thanks to its oversight of federal labor law compliance as well as its focus on player safety in the NWSL following the 2021 abuse scandal.
“We are compelled to take seriously any allegation that the terms of a duly negotiated CBA are not being upheld,” the letter stated.
Much like the NWSLPA argument around their grievance over Rodman’s free agency, the Democratic Women’s Caucus expressed concern to Berman and that the league that not following the CBA would set a “precedent,” and undermine “confidence in the NWSL’s governance.”
The caucus requested regular updates from the NWSL, and concluded, “A landmark CBA is meaningful only if its provisions are honored in practice. Women athletes must know that the rights negotiated and secured are both clear and enforceable.”
Earlier this week, the Spirit’s new president of soccer operations, Haley Carter, said that she was “cautiously optimistic” that a deal would get done thanks to the time and resources from the league and Spirit to find an answer for how to retain both Rodman and the league’s existing approach to salary cap and roster rules.
Rodman joined the Spirit in 2021 as the No. 2 draft pick. She helped the team to a NWSL Championship title later that year and signed a four-year, $1.1 million extension following her rookie season. Since then, she has become a face of the league, scoring the U.S. national team’s winning goal at the Paris Olympics and playing in the last two NWSL finals.
“Sooner is better, but I also think that we owe it to ourselves to make sure that we’re coming up with the solution that serves to compensate the athletes, but also ensures that the league is in a good space,” Carter said. “The reality is, our current salary cap structure, it was built for a different era of women’s soccer.
“This is a global game, and as the sport continues to grow globally and international clubs. The Chelseas, the Arsenals, are increasing their investment; we’re going to need mechanisms that allow NWSL clubs to compete for, not only players from overseas, but our own players and being able to retain them.”
Earlier this year, forward Alyssa Thompson left Angel City for Chelsea on a transfer fee worth more than $1 million, as did San Diego Wave center back Naomi Girma a few months before. As the global market for players continues to increase, the NWSL has had to balance its desire for parity with serious competition abroad.
This appears to be more what the board of governors hopes to address with its rule change, rather than Rodman’s specific case — even as she fields competing offers from Europe and the DC Power of the Gainbridge Super League, a Division I league that started in 2024 and does not have a salary cap.
The stakes remain high with Rodman, not just due to the public nature of the ongoing negotiations and the still-open grievance over her free agency rights, but because of Rodman’s influence when it comes to sponsorships, cultural impact and the upcoming media rights negotiations for the 2028 season and beyond.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
US Women's national team, Washington Spirit, NWSL, Women's Soccer
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