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