The Washington Spirit are committed to keeping free agent forward Trinity Rodman on the team and are continuing to work with the National Women’s Soccer League and Rodman’s representation despite the turbulent turn the negotiations took last week, the team’s leadership said Tuesday.
Haley Carter, the team’s president of soccer operations, and general manager Nathan Minion said the negotiations with Rodman and the league continue and that there is no real deadline. Rather than being discouraged, both feel all the parties are working to come up with a solution.
“I think the league is committed to working with us, and we’re committed to working with them through that, and with it is kind of a lot of back and forth. So it’s just a continual process, and that’s why I say we’re having probably daily conversations with them, trying to figure this out and trying to get a resolution that can hopefully keep Trinity here with us for a long time,” Minion said as he and Carter spoke to reporters for the first time since they were named to their new roles with the Spirit.
The league last week rejected a multiyear contract offer the Spirit extended to Rodman. In response, the NWSL Players Association filed a grievance that maintained the contract Rodman agreed to was consistent with the collective bargaining agreement and league rules and said the NWSL’s rejection violated Rodman’s free agency rights.
At the heart of the issue is the NWSL’s salary cap, which is $3.5 million for each team for the 2026 season, although it will rise each year until it hits $5.1 million in 2030. Rodman, one of the NWSL’s biggest stars who also won a gold medal with the United States at the Paris Olympics, has been drawing interest from European teams that don’t have the same salary restrictions.
The union did not provide specifics about the offer to Rodman, but said the compensation structure fits within the projected team salary cap and was calculated to include team revenue share. The NWSLPA also said the league can increase the base salary cap in any given year.
NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman has repeatedly said her desire is for Rodman to remain playing in the U.S. pro league.
“Our goal is to ensure that the very best players in the world, including Trinity, continue to call this league home. We will continue to do everything we can, utilizing every lever available within our rules to keep Trinity Rodman here,” the league said in a statement.
Carter suggested the NWSL needs to rethink the salary cap if it wants to attract and maintain top talent.
“There’s a holistic conversation that’s going on around the potential for league level solutions. 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 (like) 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,” Carter said. “We are going to have to start getting creative, I believe, because it’s bigger than just one team. It’s bigger than just one player. It’s about the league’s ability to keep its best players in this league as we continue to grow. ”
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Copyright © 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
