What’s next for USWNT star Trinity Rodman as the WSL looms and the Washington Spirit fight to keep her?

Washington’s leadership has been careful to frame the Rodman situation as something larger than one contract.

The Spirit, who recently hired Haley Carter as president of club operations, addressed the situation publicly this week. Carter emphasized that while Rodman’s case has brought urgency to the moment, the underlying issue cuts across the league.

“Trinity is sort of the impetus for this, but this isn't just about one player,” Carter said. “We've already lost multiple players this year in two transfer windows overseas for massive transfer fees. So, it's really about retaining those athletes, building a roster that can compete sustainably, keeping our best players, attracting even more elite talent, and also creating an environment where world-class athletes want to be. And that's going to require some innovation from a strategic roster construction standpoint with mechanisms that we might not have explored yet.”

Behind the scenes, Washington’s proposed deal with Rodman was reportedly close to completion. The agreement would have seen her earn an average annual value north of $1 million over four years, but the contract was blocked by the league. Commissioner Jessica Berman argued the structure violated the NWSL rulebook.

That decision sparked an immediate response from the NWSL Players Association, which filed a grievance claiming the denial infringed upon Rodman’s free agency rights. The standoff has since accelerated league-wide discussions, as officials work to find a solution before more elite players follow Rodman’s peers overseas.

Those talks are already producing movement. According to ESPN, the league’s Board of Governors has approved a new “High Impact Player” fund designed to give clubs more financial flexibility. The mechanism would allow teams to spend up to $1 million above the salary cap - a change the board hopes could help resolve situations like Rodman’s, while signaling a broader shift in how the league competes for world-class talent.

Rodman has been consistent in one respect: she is not rushing her decision.

Throughout the postseason, the USWNT star made it clear she would wait until after the NWSL Championship before addressing her future. When Washington’s season ended with a loss to Gotham FC in the final, the questions came quickly. Did the defeat change anything? Would it push her toward a move away from the Spirit?

Rodman didn’t take the bait. She brushed aside the speculation, instead emphasizing the need to reset and look ahead to the new year.

The possibility of an overseas move, however, is not new. Earlier this year, Rodman told ESPN’s Futbol W that she has always envisioned playing abroad at some point in her career, even if she stopped short of putting a timeline on that ambition.

At the same time, her ties to Washington run deep. Drafted No. 2 overall by the Spirit in 2021, Rodman quickly became a cornerstone of the club. She helped deliver Washington’s first-ever NWSL Championship as a rookie and has since guided the team to back-to-back championship appearances in 2024 and 2025 - achievements that underline both her importance to the Spirit and the weight of the decision now in front of her.

Earlier this year, several of the United States’ top players - including Naomi Girma and Alyssa Thompson - made the jump overseas. In total, eight members of the USWNT are currently playing in Europe, a growing trend that has reshaped the league’s offseason landscape. The question now is whether Rodman will become the next marquee name to follow that path.

Interest from abroad is hardly new. Last January, The Athletic’s Tom Bogert reported that Chelsea and Arsenal were among “many” clubs tracking Rodman as she entered the final year of her contract with Washington. As the calendar winds down, that attention has not faded. The Athletic’s Meg Linehan and Bogert have since reported that at least three European clubs have formally expressed interest.

There is, however, a unique wrinkle in Rodman’s case - one that ties directly to Washington’s ownership structure. Spirit owner Michele Kang controls a portfolio of clubs on both sides of the Atlantic, including OL Lyonnes and London City Lionesses. Despite those global ties, Kang has been unequivocal about her priority.

In March, she made her stance clear, telling reporters that “we’re going to do everything in our power to hopefully keep her here… She’s an integral part of our success, our success meaning the Spirit as well as NWSL.”

As Rodman weighs her options, a league built on a different financial model has quietly entered the picture.

The Gainbridge Super League has one clear advantage: it does not impose a salary cap. That distinction became impossible to ignore in November, when D.C. Power made a substantial offer for Rodman, accelerating both the saga surrounding her future and the broader conversation about where the 23-year-old could land once she reaches free agency.

The Athletic’s Meg Linehan and Tom Bogert were first to report the offer from D.C. Power. The Gainbridge Super League, which is sanctioned as a Division I competition by U.S. Soccer, was designed with a fundamentally different structure in mind - one in which players function as free agents and clubs operate independently, without centralized spending restrictions.

The league has not been without its growing pains, but its cap-free model has positioned it ahead of the NWSL in one crucial respect: financial flexibility. By contrast, the NWSL currently operates under a $3.3 million salary cap, a limitation that continues to shape - and in some cases restrict - how teams can retain or attract elite talent.

For a player of Rodman’s stature, that gap matters - and it has only intensified the pressure on the NWSL to evolve before more stars begin looking elsewhere.

Berman has said on multiple occasions that “we’re going to fight for Trinity” when asked what the league is doing to retain players like Rodman. Rodman’s agent, Mike Senkowski, echoed the uncertainty surrounding her future in an appearance on CBS Mornings following the league’s denial of Washington’s proposed deal.

“She’s disappointed,” Senkowski said. “The one thing I can say is a little bit different - the game of global soccer, football, has leagues all around the world. If you get rejected in one league, you can go somewhere else.”

Rodman has since drawn significant interest from European clubs. “We’ll see how this process evolves,” Senkowski added.

The league’s response has been swift. The Board of Governors’ decision to approve a new “High Impact Player” fund - allowing teams to spend up to $1 million above the salary cap - signals a willingness to rethink long-standing financial constraints, similar in spirit to Major League Soccer’s Designated Player model.

Rodman’s leverage is clear. In a global market increasingly willing to meet elite players at their true value, the margin for delay is shrinking.

The NWSL’s newly approved mechanism represents an acknowledgment of that reality - and a step toward evolution. Whether it arrives in time to keep one of the league’s defining talents at home remains the unanswered question.

For Rodman, the choice is personal. For the NWSL, the implications extend well beyond one player.