United States forward Trinity Rodman has signed a new record three-year contract with the Washington Spirit to remain at the club, ending months-long uncertainty over the star's future.
Rodman's new multi-million dollar deal makes her the highest paid player in league history at a salary of over $1 million annually, and the highest paid female player in the world, according to her agent Mike Senkowski of Upper 90 Sports Group.
Portland Thorns forward Sophia Wilson recently became the first player in the NWSL with a $1 million annual contract when she exercised her player option for 2026.
Rodman, Spirit owner Michele Kang and Spirit president of soccer operations Haley Carter made the announcement on Thursday at BMO Field in Los Angeles, near where Rodman is training with the USWNT.
Arguably the NWSL's biggest star, Rodman's future has been the source of public speculation for months. She has been out of contract since her previous deal expired on Dec. 31 amid a chaotic series of events for the NWSL that developed in reaction to Rodman's future.
Sources previously told ESPN that Rodman had offers from abroad, especially in England, that the Spirit could not match under the constraints of the NWSL's salary cap. The salary cap was $3.5 million per team in 2025.
Washington and Rodman came to a creative agreement in late November to backload a four-year contract that annualized to over $1 million per year, but commissioner Jessica Berman rejected the deal because it violated the "spirit" of the rules. The league also accused Rodman of preemptive salary cap circumvention.
That led the NWSLPA to file a grievance against the league on behalf of Rodman. The union called the NWSL's intervention on a legal contract offer a "flagrant violation" of the player's free agency and a violation of at least five sections of the CBA.
In December, the NWSL's board of governors approved the creation of a new High Impact Player rule to allow teams to spend up to $1 million over the salary cap on star players who meet certain criteria. The rule had been discussed in some manner for months but was, according to sources across the league, pushed forward due to the urgent nature of Rodman's future.
Losing Rodman to Europe would have been the largest blow yet to the NWSL following the departures of fellow USWNT stars Alyssa Thompson and Naomi Girma to Chelsea last year. The Portland Thorns' transfer of midfielder Sam Coffey to Manchester City was also confirmed last week.
"Trinity is an inspiration to young girls across America. She is a player they can relate to, and those young fans matter more than anything to her," her agent Senkowski said in a statement Thursday. "The decision to continue to play here represents a very clear vision for the future of women's soccer. She set a new standard for the sport and will ultimately drive the continued growth and success of the league and its players. I'm so proud of her."
Washington, and the NWSL, is where Rodman began her career as a 19-year-old fresh out of high school. She was a top prospect who had committed to Washington State University, but she pivoted to turn pro and was drafted second overall by the Spirit in the 2021 NWSL Draft.
Later that year, as a rookie, she helped lead the team win its first NWSL Championship. Rodman scored in the semifinal and assisted on the game-winning goal in extra time of the final that year.
A new contract immediately followed: a four-year deal worth $1.1 million total, making her the league's highest paid player at the time. That deal, which has since been passed several times over for the most lucrative in the league, expired at the end of 2025 and left Rodman unattached to a club, as she was listed by U.S. Soccer in her return to training camp with the USWNT this month.
The High Impact Player rule remains in flux. The NWSLPA opposes the league's right to create the rule and the premise of criteria-driven qualification. The union filed a grievance against the league on Jan. 14 over the creation of the rule.
Teams are attempting to navigate the uncertainty. Expansion team Denver Summit FC recently signed USWNT captain Lindsey Heaps to a pre-contract for this summer and general manager Curt Johnson said that Heaps qualifies by criteria and salary to be a HIP player, but it is unclear yet whether she will be.
Either way, that is a bookkeeping conundrum for the club and her contract with Denver will not change. The same would be the case for Rodman and the Spirit.
