The new CBA might still be MIA, but the NWSL released the 59-page 2025 Competition Manual, and here is everything you need to know:

Roster Size

Still expecting 22-26 players on active roster during the season

Changes: Non-active roster - Mental Health leave added

Roster Relief Contracts

Roster Relief Contracts should be aligned with the length of the replaced Player’s absence with a minimum duration of one month and a maximum duration through the end of the calendar year.

Roster Relief situations: 45-day injury list, Season-Ending Injury, Goalkeeper Injury to maintain at least two goalkeepers, maternal/parental leave, mental health leave, national team duty

If the replaced player returns to the team prior to the expiration of the contract, the team doesn’t have to use a roster spot for the roster relief player and can either list the player as ‘unavailable’ or allow said player to remain on the roster if there is a roster spot available. If both players are on the roster at the same time, both will count towards the roster cap. 

National team replacement players (NTRPs) are domestic players paid the league minimum and do not count toward the team salary cap unless the NTRP remains rostered after the return of the player called up to National Team duty. 

In the case of an inbound loan NTRP, FIFA requires a minimum loan length equal to the duration between the Primary and Secondary Transfer Windows, for 2025, NWSL’s minimum loan length is 99 days. Any loan that is not recalled by their parent club upon the national team player’s return to market will be treated as a traditional loan and will not received roster or salary cap relief.

No loan fee may be paid for an inbound loan NTRP, unless the loan involved an inbound player from the USL, in which case, the team may pay a loan fee as a reimbursement for Player’s salary.

Season-Ending Injuries

For Season-Ending Injuries, a player may be listed on the SEI list retroactively to the date-of-injury. When approving adding a player to the SEI list, the league takes into account the severity of the injury and the remaining time in the season. A player placed on the SEI list at the conclusion of the league season may remain on the SEI list into the next league season and continue to accrue base salary cap relief and roster relief. 

A maximum of two players may unexpectedly recover from the SEI list during the season in which they went on the SEI list, as long as the team did not accept either roster or salary cap relief for the player. 

To join the active roster, a player must be cleared for full activity and participation – full participation means the ability to play in a league game. If at the end of the 30 days, the player is not ready, the team Medical must provide a letter to the league stating why the player is not cleared. 

Salary Cap Exempt Contracts

Salary Cap Exempt Contracts are a new addition this year. They are contracts for the league minimum salary and have a minimum length of two months and a maximum duration through the end of the calendar year. 

They are permitted to have Agent fees calculated that do not count against the salary cap — said fees may not be more than 10% of the Player’s salary.

Teams may sign an International Player to a Salary Cap Exempt Contract, however, the contract cannot be conditional on said player receiving their visa in a specific timeline. 

Trialists 

Teams are able to have trialists at any point in the season. The maximum trial duration for a Trialist who is 21 and under is 56 days, consecutive or nonconsecutive, per team in any one league season. The maximum trial duration for any Trialist over 21 is 21 days, consecutive or nonconsecutive. For the duration of a trial, trialists may participate in any preseason game or practice games only.

Amateurs 

Amateurs are not included in team roster size calculations, but may participate in Preseason Games; and Unofficial Tournaments only. No more than three amateur players may train with any one NWSL team at any given time. 

Should an NWSL team create, maintain, or partner with a reserve team or lower division team, the NWSL and NWSLPA shall meet to bargain over whether players from the reserve teams or lower division teams may be Loaned or “called-up” to train and/or play with an NWSL team or players loaned or “called down” to reserve teams. 

Standard Player Contract Terms/Benefits

The maximum length of a contract for a player over 18 is five years including any options. For players under the age of 18, the maximum term is three years, including any options.

Options in Standard Player Agreements (SPA) may be unilateral (team or player) or mutual. Option years may not exceed the length of the guaranteed contract. 

Example: 2+2 or 2+1+1 are okay, but 2+3 or 2+1+1+1 are not. 

If a mutual option is exercised on the team side, the mutual option can be rescinded at any time if the player has not yet executed their part of the mutual option. Clubs have no obligation to keep a mutual option open for a specific length of time to allow a player to accept.

An SPA offered to a player expires and will no longer be valid after 30 days if it is neither executed nor expressly rejected in writing. 

Salary Cap Regulations & Player Compensation

The league has established a $3.3 million base salary cap to be used against a 22-26 player roster for the 2025 season, with additional monies from the league’s new revenue sharing mechanism bringing the cap to $3.5 million.

The salary cap charges include: Bonuses (Performance, Roster, Signing, One-Time), Fees (going over the transfer fee threshold), Excess benefits above the amounts required by the terms of the CBA (housing, childcare, player benefits), and Excess additional work. 

Things not counted toward the player Salary Cap: Payment for additional work up to $15,000, travel and transportation reimbursements as set in the CBA, Parental/dependent care up to 2x the IRS maximum, Housing, automobile, relocation, and per diem per the CBA, Standard Player benefits provided by the league (insurance, dental, life insurance, 401k employer contributions). 

Achieved performance bonuses are paid out in the year achieved but count towards the salary cap for the following NWSL league season. The bonus amount earned in 2024 will count toward a team’s salary cap in 2025 regardless of whether or not the player remains on the team roster for 2025. 

Signing bonuses and one-time bonuses will be paid out in the current year, and count against the team’s current year salary cap. Team-provided player bonus packets cannot exceed 50% of a player’s total base salary across the term of the SPA. 

League-provided post-season and award bonuses will not count against the team’s salary cap. Prize money earned for competition in an official tournament will not count against the team’s salary cap. 

Salary Cap cash and charges are not tradable assets and cannot be included in transactions between teams. 

Teams may pay Transfer and/or Loan fees in excess of the Transfer Fee Threshold but will incur a Salary Cap charge at twenty-five percent (25%) of the excess amount over the Transfer Fee Threshold. For example, if a Team pays net Transfer fees of $600,000, the Team will incur a $12,500 Salary Cap charge (i.e., 25% of the excess $50,000).

A team may also receive Salary Cap relief for a Player’s Agent fee at the daily rate for the duration of time the Player is on the SEI/Maternity List. However, a team may only receive Salary Cap relief in the calendar year the player is initially placed on said lists. Relief does not roll over to the next calendar year, even if the player remains on the list in the new year. 

Mutual Termination (Buyout)

Teams have the ability to buy out one SPA per league season with no impact to their Salary Cap from the point of the buyout. Teams may buy out additional SPA(s) but the full amount will count towards the team salary cap. 

Buyout regulations apply to both SPAs and Salary Cap Exempt Contracts. 

Teams and Players may agree to Mutually Terminate a Guaranteed SPA. Mutual Terminations may include financial compensation terms (e.g., a Buyout), but they are not required to include financial compensation so long as the Player is in agreement

Related Party Transactions

This was introduced ahead of the 2024 NWSL season, and has a lot of clarifications in the 2025 Competition Manual, it is specifically around teams in different leagues which share ownerships. 

Clarifying rules:
No exclusivity agreements can exist between an NWSL team and a related party club. 
The number of players loaned or transferred to or from an NWSL by its related party club must not exceed three players at any given time during a league season. 
The loan period for all inbound loans between an NWSL team and the related party club must be for a minimum of one year.

If the League determines that the Related Party NWSL Team did not pay fair market value and the Related Party Club had previously acquired the Player for a $500,000 Transfer fee and signed the Player to a two (2) year contract, the NWSL may count up to $250,000 towards the Transfer Fee Threshold.

In the event that the League determines that an outbound Transfer fee is being used to manipulate the Transfer Fee Threshold, then the League may, in its discretion, determine that such outbound Transfer may not be used to offset the Transfer Fee Threshold.

Salary Cap implications :
For an inbound loan, a player’s salary cap charge will be equal to to the amount of compensation paid by the NWSL Club and the Related Party Club during the term of the Loan.

For example, if a Player is earning a $2,000 Salary per month from the Related Party Club, is brought in on a Loan, and will be earning an additional $3,000 per month from the related-NWSL Team, the Salary Cap charge to the NWSL Team for the Player will total $5,000 per month for the duration of the Loan (i.e., $2,000 + $3,000 = $5,000).

For an outbound loan, a player’s salary cap charge will be equal to the full compensation paid to the player by both the NWSL team and the related party club. 

For example, if the NWSL Team pays a Player $100,000 in Salary and subsequently Loans the Player at the end of the year to the Related Party Club, which agrees to pay the Player $800,000 in Salary, the Player’s Salary Cap charge will be $900,000 (i.e., $100,000 + $800,00 = $900,000). If the Related Party Club pays the Player an amount less than or equal to the Player’s NWSL Salary, the NWSL Team may offset the Player’s Salary against the Salary Cap.

Trades and Transfers

Beginning January 15, 2025, Players may be acquired in Trades and Intraleague Transfers with League and Player approval at any time during the calendar year.

Player Trades and Intraleague Transfers cannot be made for finite periods (i.e., Players may not be “loaned” from one Team to another), nor may a Team structure a Trade or Intraleague Transfer such that a Player may not play against their previous Team.

Players currently on Loan outside the League can be Traded, however Player’s Registration cannot be transferred to a new Team until Player returns or is recalled from Loan.

Trades and Intraleague Transfers may not be conditioned upon a Player passing a physical examination or voided because they failed to do so, unless the trading Team acts in bad faith regarding the details of a Player’s medical condition. 

Restricted Free Agency is not completely gone, but is only applicable to six players (not disclosed by the league who the six are). 

At any given time during the League Season, a Team may only have a maximum of three (3) Players Loaned in from a single foreign Club and have a maximum of three (3) Players Loaned out to a single foreign Club.

A Team may have no more than a total of six (6) Players Loaned in or out at any given time.

Transfers to and from USL Super League 

Because the Player’s ITC is already with USSF, Loans to and from the USL Super League may take place at any time during the calendar year. The Loan does not need to begin or end during a Registration Window to be approved, as long as the Loan meets the minimum and maximum length requirements from above. 

For outbound Loans from the NWSL to USL Super League, Teams will receive Salary Cap relief for the portion of the Salary reimbursed by the USL Club as the Loan Fee. The Loan fee would not be counted toward a Team’s Transfer Fee Threshold.

For inbound Loans from the USL Super League to NWSL, the Player’s Salary that is being reimbursed by the Team will hit the Salary Cap at the prorated daily rate for the duration of the Loan.

Removing a Player From a Roster

Player-Elected Leave
A Player may request a leave of absence from services required under the SPA. If approved by the League, the Player’s Rights will continue to be held by the Team for whom they last played, through the term of their SPA. Player-Elected Leave is an unpaid leave of absence, and the Player would not receive any SPA-provided compensation or benefits for the duration of the leave. The Player’s Team will also receive Salary Cap relief for the duration of Player’s leave of absence.

Retirement
Retirement shall mean that a Player shall not play soccer for any other professional soccer team following the date of retirement. The Team holding the Player’s rights pursuant to an SPA that is being terminated due to Retirement shall continue to hold the player’s playing rights for 30 months from the date of the Player’s retirement. The NWSL shall have no obligation to release a player’s International Transfer Certificate for the duration of this thirty (30) month period

Players with 10 or more Service Years who officially retire(d) from the NWSL between 2023 and 2030, will receive a one-time founding Player contribution payment of $5,000. 

Player Registration

For any weekday game (Monday-Friday), the PAF and required US Soccer registration materials must be received by the League by 6:00 pm ET on the day before the game (e.g., if the game is on Wednesday, the PAF must be received by the League before 6:00pm ET on Tuesday).

For Saturday and Sunday games, the PAF and required US Soccer registration materials must be received by the League by 1:00 pm ET on the Friday prior to the weekend (e.g., if the game is on Sunday, the PAF must be received by the League before 1:00 pm ET on Friday).

Submitting a PAF to the League does not guarantee a Player will be eligible to compete in the Team’s next competition. 

A maximum of four U18 players may be added to a team’s roster at a given time.

Tampering – Just don’t do it

Tampering was not in any of the previous competition rules. Clarifies that team representatives are not able to tamper with any player under contract with another team and that a team must contact a club prior to speaking to an individual under contract. If said individual has more than six months remaining on their contract, the team must get written permission to communicate with the individual from the current club. There was also a specific callout that ‘Expansion Team(s) must comply with the internal Tampering rule.’

WIth preseason fully in swing and next week’s 32-player roster compliance deadline coming up, it’s a great time to see how the 2024-25 free agency is going and how my December free agent’s to watch ended up playing out.

2024-25 Free Agency

New CBA under which all players with expiring contracts are unrestricted free agents: 142 Unrestricted Free Agents

If you look at how free agency was going in December, there were only 8 players who had announced their retirement or signed outside of the NWSL and that has exploded to 36 players now. In previous years, the bucket of not signed/left NWSL/retirements went from 22% of free agents in 2022-23 to 31% in 2023-24. Now that group of designations is almost at 50% of the free agents. The increase in part comes the fact that there are significantly more free agents this offseason than previous years due to the updates from the new CBA.  

You can track all of the 2024-25 Free Agents here

The other interesting trend is the division of free agency movement. In the NWSL’s first run at free agency, more than half of the free agents stayed with their previous team. Year two of free agency saw the pendulum swing back towards players landing with new  teams. The current iteration shows a dramatic switch in free agents remaining with their current teams and significantly less players switching teams—even with the increased number of free agents available. 

For more historic free agency trends, look here

December’s 14 Players to Watch Retro

Of the 14 players, eight remained with their 2024 teams, one player retired, one player signed with a club outside of the NWSL, and four players signed contracts with new clubs inside of the NWSL. 

Christen Press (Forward, Angel City)

Status: Re-signed with Angel City on a 1-year contract

Midge Purce (Forward, Gotham FC)

Status: Re-signed with Gotham FC on a one-year contract

Maitane Lopez (Defender, Gotham FC)

Status: Signed two-year contract with Chicago Stars

Amanda West (Forward, Houston Dash)

Status: Re-signed with Houston on a two-year contract with a 2027 option 

Kristen Hamilton (Forward, Kansas City Current)

Status: Re-signed with Kansas City on a one-year contract with a 2026 option

Elizabeth Ball (Defender, Kansas City Current)

Status: Re-signed with Kansas City on a two-year contract with a 2027 option

Nichelle Prince (Forward, Kansas City Current)

Status: Re-signed with Kansas City on a two-year contract with a 2027 option

Kerolin (Forward, North Carolina Courage)

Status: Signed with WSL side Manchester City on a 3.5 year contract

Narumi Miura (Midfielder, North Carolina Courage)

Status: Signed a two year contract with a 2027 option with the Washington Spirit

Marta (Forward, Orlando Pride)

Status: Re-signed with Orlando on a two-year contract

Becky Sauerbrunn (Defender, Portland Thorns)

Status: Announced her retirement

Elli Pikkujamsa (Defender, Racing Louisville)

Status: Exercised the player side of her 2025 option

Danielle Colaprico (Midfielder, San Diego Wave)

Status: Signed a one-year contract with the Houston Dash

Hannah Betfort (Forward, Utah Royals)

Status: Signed a two-year contract with a 2027 option with the North Carolina Courage

The NWSL’s 2023 secondary window included 16 player signings and just one intra-league trade (non-player related). Comparatively, 2024 exploded with movement, 31 new player signings—free agency, transfers, and loans—and 11 trades—most of which included player movement.

Chart 1: Incoming/Outgoing Player Movement

1. Utah Royals

After the Olympic restart, Utah won six, drew one, and lost four, a dramatic turn from their start to the season in which 16 matches they only won twice, drew thrice, and lost a lot more. During the secondary window the Royals added Japanese midfielder Mina Tanaka, Spanish midfielder Claudia Zornoza, and Canadian forward Cloé Lacasse. Part of the drastic differences in outcomes can be attributed to the Royals new additions of players with international experience and years of professional experience, but part of it was also the mid-season coaching change which happened right before the Olympic break and the complexity that comes from being an expansion team needing to find their identity. 

2. Kansas City Current

Although the Current only lost once in the first 16 matches of the season, they had 22 goals against in that period, averaging almost 1.4 goals per game against. During the Secondary Window, the Current signed German goalkeeper Almuth Schult, and made two big trades for defenders. First they acquired centerback Alana Cook from Seattle for $40k allocation money and $75k intra-league transfer funds, with an additional $25k in intra-league transfer funds being sent to the Reign if incentive based requirements are met. With just days left in the window, the Current traded goalkeeper Jordan Silkowitz and $15k allocation funds to Bay FC in return for centerback Kayla Sharples. Once the team returned to the regular season post-Olympics, the squad only allowed nine goals in 10 matches. The newly acquired trio quickly became the core of the defense and started together throughout the playoffs. 

3. North Carolina Courage

The Courage got started early with the secondary signings, getting the Australian duo of forward Cortnee Vine and defender Charlotte McLean signed to multi-year contracts in mid-June ahead of the window opening. (Free Agents can sign at any time, but in order to play the Secondary Window needed to officially open in order to accept their International Transfer Certificates). North Carolina also made midfielder Manaka Matsukubo’s loan a permanent transfer, adding to the strength of the midfield for the back-half of the regular season. The Courage also added 19-year old Brazilian forward Aline Gomes and traded Gotham for 2024 first-round draft pick Maycee Bell. 

4. Bay FC

The expansion-side didn’t start being active in the secondary window until there were just five days left, but that didn’t stop them from making big moves. First, they acquired defender Abby Dahlkemper from the San Diego Wave for $50k in allocation funds. Then they traded defender Kayla Sharples to Kansas City in return for goalkeeper Jordan Silkowitz and $15k allocation money. Lastly, on the final day of the window, Bay traded for forward Penelope Hocking from Chicago Stars for $250k in transfer funds in 2024, and $100k in 2025. Bay FC ended up becoming the second-ever expansion side to qualify for playoffs in their inaugural season. 

5. Chicago Stars

The Red Stars had two player additions in the secondary window, the signing of Canadian midfielder Julia Grosso – who had just spent two and a half seasons with Italian-side Juventus – and Brazilian forward Ludmila - who had just completed her seventh season with Spanish-side Atletico Madrid. On top of impressive club careers, both players have impressive international experience to bring to the squad as well. Chicago’s consistency throughout the season oscillated, especially with the loss of Sam Staab due to a SEI mid-June. With their first offseason in Chicago under their belts, it’ll be fun to watch. 

Today FIFA published its breakdown of the 2024 women’s soccer global transfer report. 2024 showed another year of record growth with $15.6 million spent on international transfers—more than double the $6.1 million spent in 2023. 2024 also saw a 20.8% increase in the total number of international transfers going from 1,890 in 2023 to 2,284. There was also an increase in the number of transfers with fees up to 8.7%. 

Image 1: Spending on transfer fees and number of clubs with fees, 2024 FIFA Global Transfer Report

The Summer transfer window, which overlaps with the traditional european schedule offseason and the NWSL’s midseason window saw almost 60% of all transfers and spending with a peak in April as the NWSL’s primary window was coming to a close. 

Image 2: Distribution of number of transfers and spending on transfer fees across the year in 2024, 2024 FIFA Global Transfer Report

The majority of transfers (84.6%) were for players who were out of contract–free agents–and almost all of the international transfer money was spent on players making permanent transfers 

Image 3: Distribution of number of transfers and value of transfer fees by transfer type, 2024 FIFA Global Transfer Report

The number of transfers which included a sell-on fee increased in 2024, with 92 of the transfers including such a clause. Although it increased almost 70% compared to 2023, at 30.8% it is still well below the levels in men’s football, which are close to reaching 50%. 

Although the FIFA report does report the top five transfer fees of the year across the globe, there is no transparency into official numbers past what writers are able to report. 

Image 4: Top five transfers by size of transfer fee (2024), 2024 FIFA Global Transfer Report

The average length of international transfers was 14.9 months for 2024, with most contracts lasting between six and 12 months. Only 2.3% of contracts were over three years. In a similar trend to the men’s professional landscape, younger players were the most likely to receive the longest contracts with players under 18 averaging contracts of 29.1 months, and then a solid dropoff in the 18-23 bracket with average contracts around 16.2 months. 

Image 5: Distribution of contract duration in international transfers, 2024 FIFA Global Transfer Report

With 131 different nationalities involved, the United States had the most players transferred internationally (246 transfers), with Brazil (121), United Kingdom (104), Colombia (98), and Nigeria (77) rounding out the top five. 

Image 6: Player nationality by number of international transfers in 2024, 2024 FIFA Global Transfer Report

At $1.9 million, Brazilian players accounted for the highest spending on transfers fees in 2024, followed by Zambia ($1.6 million), Sweden ($1.3 million), France ($900k), and Spain ($700k). Forty-Five of the 131 nationalities involved in a transfer had at least one player transferred for a fee. 

Looking at all of the transfers in 2024, a little over 60% were between clubs in the same confederation with almost 43% occurring between two clubs in UEFA (European Federation). Players moving from Europe to Concacaf (USA, Mexico, Canada, etc) were the second-largest with 156 transfers. 

Image 7: Number of transfers between and within confederations, 2024 FIFA Global Transfer Report

UEFA clubs account for over half of all spending on transfer fees, with over $8 million spent in 2024, Concacaf clubs spent the second highest amount, with almost $7 million spent. Most of the transfer fees went to clubs in UEFA – 73%, equalling $11.2 million. 

The United States had the most incoming transfers with 184, with the top five rounded out by Spain (120), England (117), Sweden (92), and Germany (79). England was the country with the most outgoing transfers with 123, followed by Spain (119), United States (107), Sweden (86), and Turkey (85). In 2024, 87 associations had at least one incoming transfer and 129 had at least one outgoing transfer. 

As far as spending goes, clubs from the United States were the biggest spenders ($5.8 million), with England ($4.5 million), Spain ($1.4 million), Mexico ($1.1 million), and Italy ($0.6 million) following behind. In terms of receiving, Spain let the way with $2.6 million coming into its clubs. England had the second most at $1.9 million, followed by Sweden ($1.5 million), Brazil ($1.4 million), and France ($1.4 million). 

Image 8:Top three transfer streams by number of transfers and spending on transfer fees, 2024 FIFA Global Transfer Report

There were 695 clubs involved in international transfers, the top twenty spending clubs in 2024 included eight of the 14 NWSL clubs, with Bay FC top across the globe. Orlando was fourth, followed by Houston in fifth. Utah, Portland, and North Carolina were eight, tenth, and eleventh respectively. Seattle (thirteenth) and Washington (fifteenth), round of the NWSL’s positions in the table. 

Image 9: Top 20 clubs by spending on transfer fees, 2024 FIFA Global Transfer Report

All 14 NWSL teams have officially started their preseasons and have submitted their initial rosters to the league — requiring 40-player compliant rosters. With all teams at their maximum roster compliance of 26 signed active players, there are 364 positions to be filled in the NWSL. Currently, there are 353 players under contract for the 2025 season—including 2024 SEI’s, but not players currently out on loan. 

There are 54 non-rostered invitees (NRIs) who have joined squads in the preseason looking to earn one of the remaining coveted positions. The league is averaging almost 4 NRI’s per team, even taking into account San Diego, Washington, and Gotham not having any NRI’s with them. 

Team Breakdowns

Note: All roster breakdowns do not include players who are under contract but currently out on loan, but they do include the 2024 SEI players. 

Angel City FC

2024 Finish: 12th

With the league low of 21 players under contract (19 active, two 2024 SEIs) and only three offseason additions so far, Angel City has room for their current NRI’s to potentially find a home as well as some space for further signings until the primary transfer window closes toward the end of March. 

Bay FC

2024 Finish: 7th

Heading into their second season, Bay has 24 players under contract (23 active, one 2024 SEI), and 22 of those returning from the inaugural season. Their one NRI right now is forward Catherine Paulson who played with the squad as a national team replacement player in 2024. 

Chicago Stars

2024 Finish: 8th

Chicago has 26 players under contract (24 active, two 2024 SEI). The five defenders do look a bit scary, especially when you consider that one of those is Sam Staab, who has yet to come off the 2024 SEI list. Chicago has the fewest number of defenders signed of any team, it will be interesting to see who–if any of the midfielders potentially slot back into the defense to add much needed depth. 

Houston Dash

2024 Finish: 14th

After a very rough 2024 season, the Houston Dash had a busy (and successful) offseason targeting NWSL players who have proven themselves to be impactful in the league. The real question will be whether newly appointed head coach Fabrice Gautrat will be able to instill a cohesive identity in the squad. Reminder: From 2021 to 2023, the team who finished the regular season last ended up making the playoffs in the following year. 

Kansas City Current

2024 Finish: 4th

Kansas City is the only team to not have any players returning in a single position, with a complete turnover in their goalkeeper union. The Current have 26 players under contract for the upcoming season (23 active, three 2024 SEI). After the on-field cohesion the team showed throughout the season, it isn't surprising how much of the core field players they returned from 2024. 

Gotham FC

2024 Finish: 3rd

Gotham surprisingly has had the most active offseason of any NWSL team, with 10 new additions joining the squad in 2025 and 24 players signed for the upcoming season (24 active, no SEI). Additionally, there has been reporting that defender Jenna Nighswonger will be heading to the WSL—the window for this move is quickly closing but Nighswonger was disclosed as Not Yet Reported—which would leave Gotham with only six defenders. With their remaining roster positions, Gotham needs to look for further depth in their midfield and defense.

North Carolina Courage

2024 Finish: 5th

The Courage top out the high end with 29 players under contract for the upcoming season (28 active, one 2024 SEI). They’ll need to send players out on loans/transfers or release players ahead of the season opener in March. The stacked roster does mean that the NRI’s who have joined the team for preseason do have a higher hurdle to try to earn a spot than potentially on other teams. 

Orlando Pride

2024 Finish: 1st, NWSL Championship

The Pride are the team with the fewest offseason acquisitions at only two, but when you got something that’s working, why mess with it? The reigning NWSL Shield winners and NWSL Champions have 24 players returning from their 2024 squad, and 26 players under contract (21 active, five 2024 SEI). 

Portland Thorns

2024 Finish: 6th

After a tumultuous 2024 that truly had downs and ups and downs and ups, the Thorns saw three major retirements in players that defined the squad’s culture in Christine Sinclair, Becky Sauerbrunn, and Meghan Klingenberg. Their offseason acquisitions were focused on adding depth in the defense and up top. Portland only has 23 players under contract (22 active, one 2024 SEI), and two open international spots to potentially target additional players ahead of the start of the season. 

Racing Louisville

2024 Finish: 9th

Racing is looking to end their unfortunate run of four 9th place finishes in a row in the upcoming season and focused on shoring up their defense in the offseason moves, while adding a little depth up top. Louisville has 25 players under contract (24 active, one 2024 SEI). It wouldn’t be surprising if they added another forward with the remaining spot(s). Fun fact: their NRI’s include midfielder Meg Boade (sister of Bay FC midfielder Tess Boade), and Makayla DeMelo (sister of Racing midfielder Savannah DeMelo)

San Diego Wave

2024 Finish: 10th

The Wave only have 24 players signed for the upcoming season (all active), and have had one of the busiest offseasons of any team in the league with nine new players joining the ranks for 2025 (and available spots for two more). During the offseason the team hired Jonas Eidevall to lead the squad in their fourth season, who has chosen to not have any NRI’s—likely to focus as much as possible on the teambuilding in the preseason ramp up.  

Seattle Reign

2024 Finish: 13th

The Reign joined the preseason with 25 players under contract (24 active, one 2024 SEI). It’s head coach Laura Harvey’s fifth year at the helm (this go-around), and after a rough start to the 2024 season, the Reign made a lot of moves during the secondary window but were never really able to hit their stride. This offseason will be important to finally have the downtime to figure out their new identity and fold in the new additions. 

Utah Royals

2024 Finish: 11th

The Royals did not have the best start to their (re)inaugural season in 2024, but after the summer break, it looked like the team had finally found their rhythm. They start the preseason with 24 players under contract (20 active, four 2024 SEIs), and have had seven additions this offseason which hopefully will mesh seamlessly with their end-of-season momentum. 

Washington Spirit

2024 Finish: 2nd

No NRIs for head coach Jonatan Giráldez’s first full offseason—he joined the Spirit in July of 2024 full-time. After losing the NWSL Championship to the Orlando Pride 1–0, the Spirit were fairly active in the offseason with seven new additions, all fairly spread out across the pitch. The Spirit started the preseason with 27 players under contract (22 active, five 2024 SEI). 

NWSL teams are able to start their preseason camp as soon as Wednesday, and with it are required to be at 40-player camp rosters—including both rostered and non-rostered invitees (NRIs). Here’s a look at where the NWSL rosters currently stand ahead of preseason starting.

Reminder from the NWSL Competition Manual:
“A Team may exceed the maximum number of Players assigned to its Roster and the maximum number of international Roster spots starting the day following the NWSL Championship through the Roster Compliance Date of the following League Season, but a Player’s Salary Cap charge will count towards a Teams Salary Cap at the daily rate for the number of days the player is on the Roster.”

Teams have until March 12th to get into full compliance with both their INTL roster spots, and the 22-26 active roster, and while there is no penalty for being temporarily over in terms of INTL spots, even players who don’t play any games this year for a team will still count toward the salary cap in a prorated way. 

Overview of 2025 Rosters (End-of-day 1/13/25)

Table 1: An overview of active and non-active rostered players for 2025. Filled green box means the club has eight INTL spots, red means six INTL spots, no special shading means the club has the standard seven maximum spots. 

At full capacity, where every NWSL team uses the maximum 26 active roster spots, there can be 364 active players in the league. Currently, 312 of those spots are in use, with 27 non-active players (1 D45, 2 outgoing loans ending in June, 24 2024 SEI remaining on rosters), which leaves only 25 open spots for the remaining 61 free agents, and collegiate players looking to land on a team for the upcoming season. 

Bay FC and Orlando will have to be smart about their non-active players re-joining the active roster as Bay sits at the maximum of 26 but has a 2024 SEI who is eligible to come off non-active and Orlando has 24 active roster players, but four 2024 SEI’s who are eligible to put them over the active roster limits. North Carolina, Seattle, and Washington are all at the 26 player maximum if you look at their combined total, although especially for some of the later in the 2024 SEI’s, the feasibility of them re-joining in 2025 might be small. San Diego, Angel City, and Portland are all under the 22 active player limit when including their SEI’s. Utah and Chicago are currently under with their active players, but if their SEI’s are included would be in a roster complaint range. 

Chart 1: A breakdown of the 2025 International Spots allocated to players

With each team starting with seven international spots, there are 98 INTL spots in the NWSL for 2025, but only 70 actively in use with another 6 attached to non-active roster players. After trading for an additional INTL spot last year, the Utah Royals are under SEI compliance even if their one SEI INTL player comes back in 2025, considering how late Cloé Lacasse tore her ACL in 2024, this would definitely be a push. Keep an eye on the Washington Spirit though because they currently have all seven of their spots in use, and an additional one that could come back in Ouleye Sarr who was battling a back injury from September through the NWSL Championship. 

Free Agency Update:

Looking at free agency as a whole, there have been 56 players who have signed with teams in 2025, 8 free agents have signed with clubs outside the NWSL, and 11 players have announced their retirements. There are 61 free agents who played in the NWSL in 2024 who have yet to sign with a club for 2025. 

Most teams have put out ‘Thank You’ posts to their 2024 rostered free agents who they will not be re-signing in 2025, or announced it in the end-of-season roster announcements in December. That being said, there are still 12 players who have yet to receive a ‘Thank You’ post or the last update from the team was that they were in negotiations:

Angel City FC - Christen Press

Chicago Stars - Sarah Griffith

Houston Dash - Erin McKinney, Havana Solaun

Kansas City Current - Elizabeth Ball, Kristen Hamilton, Mallory Weber

NJ/NY Gotham FC - Michelle Betos, Midge Purce

North Carolina Courage - Kerolin

Portland Thorns - Gabby Provenzano

Seattle Reign - Lauren Barnes

Bonus Charts– Positional Breakdown:

Chart 2: A breakdown of the 339 players currently under contract for the 2025 season, both active and non-active. 

Chart 3: Breaking down each team’s active players by position

Chart 4: Breaking down each team’s non-active players by position

Today the NWSL released the schedule footprint as well as the competition calendar for the 2025 season. Here’s what you need to know:

Preseason Rosters

Under the new CBA, teams can begin preseason camps as soon as January 15th, and as late as February 5th. By the February 5th deadline, teams must submit their 40-player preseason roster to the league and get any trialist—non-rostered invitees or NRIs—agreements out. 

As far as rosters go by February 19th, teams need to be down to a 32-player roster, and then they need to be at full 22-26 player compliance by March 12th when the rosters are submitted to the league. Players can still be added after the March 12th deadline, but teams will need to remain in compliance on active players and salary cap until the end of 2025 after that point. 

During preseason there is a three-match FIFA Window from February 17th to the 26th, which will slightly disrupt the flow of teams’ preseason chemistry building, but it shouldn’t be as chaotic as the Concacaf W Gold Cup last year which lasted from February 20th to March 10th—less than a week before the regular season started in 2024. 

2025 Challenge Cup

The Challenge Cup started in 2020 as the Covid-bubble replacement for a regular season. In 2021 and 2022 it transformed into a fully preseason tournament, and in 2023 it morphed again into a tournament interwoven with the regular season—being played as mid-week games and the summer international window. 

Last year the Challenge Cup went through its (final?) iteration, becoming a single match played ahead of the regular season between the NWSL Shield winner (top of the regular season table), and the NWSL Championship winner. Since last season the Orlando Pride won both the NWSL Shield and the NWSL Championship, this year’s Challenge Cup will be a replay of the 2024 NWSL Championship game as the Orlando Pride take on the Washington Spirit on Friday, March 7th.

Regular Season & Playoffs

The regular season will kick off on Friday March 14th this year, roughly the same time as the regular season started in 2024. The playoffs also aim for similar weekends with the NWSL Quarterfinals being November 7-9, Semifinals November 14-16, and the NWSL Championship November 22nd. 

The NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup does not appear to be making a re-appearance in 2025 following its inaugural run last summer during the time when international players were away preparing for and playing in the 2024 Paris Olympics. In its stead the league has decided that NWSL clubs will be able to plan their own friendlies/competitions in the month of July while FIFA regulated competitions are ongoing.

Transfer Windows 

The major change from 2024 is that there are no longer trade windows, so up until the October 9th roster freeze, players can be traded—within the league—at any time as long as the trades have the required player approval. 

For players coming from abroad, the transfer windows are when the NWSL can accept an International Transfer Certificate (ITC). International players (or domestic players abroad) can sign outside of the transfer windows, but they cannot play in a game until the ITC has gone through during an open window. For 2025, the Primary Transfer Window goes from January 28th until March 24th (one week after the regular season starts), and the Secondary Window will open up on July 1st and close on August 25th. 

Another change that comes with the new CBA is that starting July 1st, 2026 free agents will be able to sign with new teams for the 2026 season. 

As a reminder, per the new CBA, there is no more waiver wire and all contracts are guaranteed.

Throughout the season general managers and coaches make decisions based on the information they currently have and what they think they need to have a successful season, but here’s a look at some deals that didn’t pan out for teams (in chronological order):

Didn’t end up panning out for: Utah. Gray only had 2 minutes played in 2 matches, Tagliaferri 267 minutes in 6 matches (4 starts) compared to North Carolina who got Expansion Draft protection and $30k cash back. 

Didn’t end up panning out for: San Diego. Enge only played in 90 minutes and had one start for the Wave in 2024 after San Diego went through hoops to re-acquire her following Bay FC picking her in the 2024 Expansion Draft. She was released by the team in August to pursue opportunities abroad. 

Didn’t end up panning out for: Louisville. This one is just in here because there is no 2025 draft, so Racing didn’t actually receive anything for Beall. 

Didn’t end up panning out for: Angel City. Although Garziano joined Angel City during preseason, she did not sign with the club for 2024.

Didn’t end up panning out for: Houston. They never utilized the 2024 international spot (they ended the season with 3 unused spots–granted part of this was that teams didn’t know yet that the INTL spots would be expanded to seven by the league), CeCe Kizer only played in five matches and 216 minutes for the Dash. In February, they extended her contract from ending in 2024 to 2025 (with likely new salary terms) and September 5th the Dash announced the mutual termination of her contract following which Kizer signed with Gotham. 

Didn’t end up panning out for: Angel City. With that much allocation money in play, normally a player would have more of an impact – Bright was coming off a rookie season where she was up for Rookie of the Year, playing in 1379 minutes over 22 matches and scoring 6 goals. She joined an LA-based club with a lot of forward depth and only scored 1 goal in her 679 minutes over 21 matches. 

Didn’t end up panning out for: Portland. It’s easy to see some of the thought process behind acquiring Alvarado from Houston in that Portland was struggling in the beginning of the season, not finding a win in the first four matches of the season with Shelby Hogan between the posts. Earlier in the day before Portland took on Houston on matchday five, the trade was announced, and Portland started a six game winning streak that cemented Hogan in as the starting goalkeeper. Alvarado didn’t play a single regular season minute for the Thorns ahead of being waived on August 16th to be able to pursue opportunities abroad. 

With the NWSL end-of-season roster decisions in the books, there are a number of teams still negotiating with their free agents to keep them with their 2024 teams in the coming year, and now’s the time to take an initial look at the turnover between 2024 and 2025 rosters and some metrics like minutes played, goals, assists, and chances created as well as the breakdown of current rosters by position.

Positional Breakdown

Note: Totals include 2023/2024 SEI’s toward the positional totals for each team. These players are technically non-active players and do not count toward the 26 player roster limit nor the 2025 salary cap until they are medically cleared to play and re-join the active roster. Positions are based on what the team’s put in their announcements.

The first thing that stands out is that a number of teams do not have at least two rostered goalkeepers with the Kansas City Current’s complete lack of signed goalkeeper being the most striking part. San Diego and Seattle both have a singular goalkeeper signed for 2025 while Washington technically has two—although one still has a 2024 SEI designation. 

Teams are pretty consistent in having between five and nine defenders on roster, with the average across the teams being slightly above six. Gotham’s offseason has seen a thinning of their midfield with only three signed for 2025 and San Diego is only slightly better with four midfielders tied down. Even with those numbers, the average across the stack is again slightly above six and maxing out with Utah, Louisville, and Orlando’s having eight midfielders. Forwards have a similar story to the defenders with all the teams being in a pretty even spread between five and eight. 

Minutes Played

Looking at the 25,740 minutes played by each team in the 2024 regular season, above is a function of how much of their total minutes played is rostered for 2025. All four teams who have at least 90% of their minutes returning did make the 2024 playoffs. Of the teams to make it to the semifinals in postseason, Gotham and Kansas City being in the bottom half of the chart is slightly surprising considering teams often try to keep players with substantial minutes year-over-year in order to maximize upon the connections already made.  

Goals

Unsurprisingly, the majority of the NWSL teams who finished above the playoff line— the top eight teams in the table—have players with the most goals scored returning in 2025 with the sole exception of the Chicago Red Stars who are just ninth in this chart. 

After finishing the 2024 NWSL regular season at the bottom of the table and although they currently are second to last in terms of goals returning Houston surprisingly is the fourth team in terms of keeping their 2024 goalscorers rostered for 2025. The retirement of Portland’s Christine Sinclair, the trade of Janine Beckie, and waiving of Izzy D’Aquila accounts for their position near the bottom of this chart. In a similar manner, Orlando’s position here is solely due to Marta being a free agent and not having re-signed yet—negotiations are ongoing. 

Assists

Similar to the Goals Returning table above, the assists returning aligns fairly close to the playoff line with just some differences in the ordering. The top eight here all made the playoffs, the bottom six did not. 

When you look at the percentages as part of each teams’ performance, you can see that the two expansion sides—Utah and Bay FC—both retained 100% of their assist generators alongside Washington and North Carolina. Racing’s position at the bottom of this chart is mostly due to trades during the 2024 regular season versus not re-signing players. 

Chances Created

Chances created are a cumulative total of ‘assists’ and ‘key passes’ where ‘key passes’ are the final pass from a player to their teammate who then makes an attempt on Goal without scoring.

The four teams who made it to the semifinals being in the top five of this table is no surprise as they were also four of the top five teams in terms of overall chances created in 2025—Portland was the other team in the overall chances created total with 293. The expansion teams once again being high on this chart is indicative that they feel confident in the squad’s they put together and to be honest both sides form throughout the season just kept getting better. 

Regarding the Chances Created as a percentage of team total, the top of the chart follows the trend on minutes returning with Washington, Bay, Kansas City, and North Carolina being a close top four and then there being a drop before you hit five through eight. Houston’s rough 2024 has them rounding out the bottom in both the Chances Created charts and that’ll be something for them to focus on adding in the current offseason.

Trade Window

As a reminder, the NWSL trade window will once again open up tomorrow (Friday December 13th) and stay open until it closes for the holiday transaction moratorium December 20th — December 27th. The 92 unsigned free agents are free to sign with their 2024 club or a new club at any time outside of the transaction moratorium. 

After the first 29 players to sign in 2025 free agency all re-signed with their current club, former Gotham midfielder Delanie Sheehan broke the pattern yesterday when it was announced that she was signing with the Houston Dash. A few hours later Angel City defender Madison Curry joined Sheehan signing with the Seattle Reign. 

With the season only ending on November 23rd and being followed immediately by Thanksgiving week, it’s not really a surprise that this week marked the beginning of players announcing new locations for their 2025 seasons. 

Looking forward, next week the currently open trade window will close and followed by the End-of-Season decision sheets being turned into the league. Under the new CBA, any old contract which had a semi-guaranteed status versus guaranteed will now become guaranteed for 2025 starting in December versus under the old CBA they only became guaranteed at the Roster Freeze toward the end of the season. 

The remaining 2024 NWSL Calendar

Free Agency Over the Years

2022-23: 

Requirement: Six years of service for player to be unrestricted free agent

45 Unrestricted Free Agents

2023-24: 

Requirement: Five years of service for player to quality for unrestricted free agency, three years of service for a player to quality for restricted free agency

55 Unrestricted Free Agents and 20 Unrestricted Free Agents

2024-25: 

NEW CBA — Any player with a contract ending is a free agent

132 Unrestricted Free Agents

As you can see, thus far this free agency period there have already been more players who re-signed with their current team than any previous year. It will be interesting to see how the different buckets continue to fluctuate over the coming months, especially with the ending of the NWSL Draft and collegiate athletes being able to sign with teams at any time. 

2025 NWSL Rosters

When looking at the remaining free agents, it is also important to keep in mind that every NWSL team has a limited number of active roster spots available for the 2025 season, 26. The table below shows how many active players a team has signed as well as any 2023 or 2024 SEI’s/D45’s which are under contract for 2025 and have the opportunity to join the active roster in the upcoming season. 

The other thing to keep in mind for the offseason roster moves is that this is the first offseason where teams are fully able to utilize the expanded international roster spots. A week before the 2024 season kicked off, the NWSL announced that it would be expanding the available international spots for the rest of 2024 and moving forward. 

You can read more about the expansion to seven spots here or check out your team’s current players occupying spots here

15 Players to Watch

Christen Press, forward, Angel City

Midge Purce, forward, Gotham FC

Maitane Lopez, defender, Gotham FC

Amanda West, forward, Houston Dash

Kristen Hamilton, forward, Kansas City Current

Elizabeth Ball, defender, Kansas City Current

Nichelle Prince, forward, Kansas City Current 

Kerolin, forward, North Carolina Courage

Narumi Miura, midfielder, North Carolina Courage

Marta, forward, Orlando Pride

Becky Sauerbrunn, defender, Portland Thorns

Elli Pikkujamsa, defender, Racing Louisville

Danielle Colaprico, midfielder, San Diego Wave

Hannah Betfort, forward, Utah Royals

As a reminder, you can check the status of your favorite team’s 2025 rosters here or follow along with 2025 Free Agency at Spotrac’s tracker here. A comprehensive list of all offseason moves can also be found here.