The biggest lingering question of the NWSL offseason has officially been answered – Trinity Rodman will return to the league after signing a new deal with the Washington Spirit through 2028, a decision made official with an announcement on Thursday, ensuring that the league’s biggest star will stay put for the foreseeable future. Rodman’s salary will be over $2 million annually, her agent Mike Senkowski of Upper 90 Sports Group told CBS Sports, making her the highest-paid women’s soccer player in the world.
Thursday’s announcement ended a months-long saga over Rodman’s signature, an ordeal that included interest from other clubs in the U.S. and England. The Spirit were intent to re-sign her, though, doing so despite friction with the league over the structure of a new deal, one that resulted in the NWSL Players Association filing a grievance that has yet to be resolved. The NWSL’s introduction of their new high-impact player rule, which officially kicks off in July pending a separate grievance from the NWSLPA, paved the way for the Spirit and Rodman to finally agree to terms the league was satisfied with.
“I’ve made the DMV my home and the Spirit my family, and I knew this was where I wanted to enter the next chapter of my career,” said Rodman in a press release. “I’m proud of what we’ve built since my rookie season, and I’m excited about where this club is headed. We’re chasing championships and raising the standard, and I can’t wait to keep doing that with my teammates and the best fans in the NWSL.”
The end of a months-long back-and-forth is good news for all parties involved, chief among them Rodman ahead of an important couple of years with the U.S. women’s national team leading up to the 2027 Women’s World Cup. Many may point to this moment in the future as an important step in the NWSL’s evolution amidst the skyrocketing growth of the women’s game around the world, too. Rodman’s NWSL return, though, is just one layer in a multi-dimensional topic that remains the single most important issue in an evolving sport.
Here’s what Rodman’s new deal means for the NWSL, and perhaps the sport as a whole.
Trinity Rodman signs new deal with Washington Spirit as NWSL manages to keep USWNT superstar
Sandra Herrera
NWSL can capitalize on Rodman’s star power
There is a reason commissioner Jessica Berman said the NWSL “will fight” to keep Rodman around in her remarks before last year’s championship – she is easily the league’s biggest star.
The NWSL’s entire brand hinges on its star power, something the league has always boasted even in times of financial hardship and when the league had a lower profile. The competitive on-field product has always been the league’s greatest selling point, and technically would still be without Rodman. The USWNT talent, though, matches her immense skill with a spotlight that makes her marketable for both the Spirit and the NWSL as a whole. She is undeniably a valuable piece of the puzzle that has allowed the Spirit to emerge a popular sports team in Washington, D.C., boasting two sellouts at Audi Field in their run to the 2025 Championship.
For Rodman and the NWSL, the good news is that hers is not the only big name they can build their brand around. Rodman, alongside the likes of the Portland Thorns’ Sophia Wilson and the Chicago Stars’ Mallory Swanson, can be the anchors for a group of rising stars as the NWSL continues a period of transition after a previous generation of high-profile talent like Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe retired. That is especially true with a few busy years ahead in the sport – the 2026 men’s World Cup, co-hosted by the U.S., will afford all of American soccer an increased spotlight, while the 2027 Women’s World Cup in Brazil and 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles could offer a boost to the NWSL.
HIP rule works – for now
With the salary cap set at $3.3 million per team for the 2026 season, it was clear that the NWSL needed to do something to ensure its teams could compete with an ambitious European team unburdened by such wage restrictions. They managed to do so with the high impact player rule, which did the job in ensuring Rodman returned to the Spirit before preseason officially began. It is a flawed rule, though, and its best-case usage scenario may simply be as a stopgap until the NWSL comes up with a solution that feels more current.
Special rules for special players are not inherently uncommon – see MLS’ designated player rule – but the HIP rule is different in the sense that teams have only a limited amount of funds to work with and a limited pool of players to choose from. Teams will be allowed to use an additional $1 million on contracts for players who qualify through a number of criteria like USWNT playing time, but somewhat more arbitrary classifications like awards recognition and inclusion in media lists make the HIP rule an unusual one. A fairly wide net has been cast as the rule currently stands, but when the Orlando Pride’s Lizbeth Ovalle would not qualify despite fetching the record transfer fee in her $1.5 million move from Tigres last summer, it raises a few questions about the rule’s language.
The HIP rule is also the subject of a new grievance filed by the NWSLPA earlier this month, with the union arguing it violates both the collective bargaining agreement and federal labor law, which could impact the rule’s implementation in the long run. Even if the HIP rule remains as is, though, the annual increases the league promised will be an important topic of focus. The salary cap will rise to $5.1 million in the 2030 season, per the CBA, though whether or not that type of money is enough to contend with rising transfer fees and salaries in the women’s game is an open question.
The tug-of-war with Europe continues
The Spirit may have seemed like the likeliest destination for Rodman this winter, though the pull of Europe may not permanently fade. Rodman said in an interview with ESPN last year that she would “kick herself if I retired” without playing overseas, a sentiment that continues to be shared by different USWNT players. Sam Coffey is the latest example, recently joining Manchester City after years with the Portland Thorns in part because she wanted to experience the game elsewhere.
It is a sign of health for the women’s game that players have choice, something that is especially true for top-end players like Rodman and Coffey. Many will inevitably choose to play overseas for a time if only for the experience of living somewhere else, something many USWNT players like Morgan and Rapinoe did before them. The sport is in a fascinating spot right now, though – some may feel that NWSL teams spend conservatively, either by choice or by force through the league’s rules, but there are currently only a handful of teams in Europe willing to compete with them for star players. It likely means that for the time being, a small selection of clubs in the U.S. and Europe will do their best to hoard many of the world’s best players, and may split the pool of talent somewhat evenly in the process.
The great unknown for the NWSL, and the sport as a whole, is when the other rich teams in Europe will wake up to the reality that the women’s game is worth investing in. There are several clubs that have racked up accolades in the men’s game like Real Madrid and Bayern Munich who have yet to unlock their full financial might in the women’s game, but the reality is that teams that feel like a tier below the elites can flip a switch and heavyweights of women’s soccer. If more and more clubs in Europe realize that, it may be bad news for the NWSL – unless the U.S. league is prepared to maintain its status as a leader of the sport.
