The Washington Spirit are all in on forward Trinity Rodman, with club GM Nathan Minion telling reporters that the 2025 NWSL runners-up are working "pretty much daily" to re-sign the free agent despite salary cap concerns.
"I think everyone's trying to work together to get a deal in place," said Minion, acknowledging that the NWSL and the Spirit are actively working with each other to retain the 23-year-old star. "[We're] trying to figure this out and trying to get a resolution that can hopefully keep Trinity here with us for a long time."
"The reality is our current salary cap structure — it was built for a different era of women's soccer," said the DC club's recently hired president of soccer operations Haley Carter. "We're going to need mechanisms that allow NWSL clubs to compete for not only players from overseas, but our own players."
The NWSL vetoed the multi-million dollar offer from the Washington Spirit to keep Rodman last week, with the NWSLPA subsequently filing a grievance claiming the league violated the USWNT attacker's free agency rights by blocking the deal.
"These are nuanced conversations, and I would love to just toss the salary cap out the window and pay the players," said Carter. "But we also have to appreciate that, pragmatically, it isn't always payroll that's going to keep our athletes here. It's investment in other things as well."
"We are going to have to start getting creative, I believe, because it's bigger than just one team," continued Carter. "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."
The Washington Spirit's quest to retain their biggest star has hit another snag, as multiple reports on Wednesday revealed that NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman vetoed a proposed multi-million dollar deal to keep USWNT standout Trinity Rodman in the top-flight domestic league.
Per The Athletic, the offer included a four-year scaling contract that would see Rodman's compensation increase in the deal's final two years, with Washington banking on a new NWSL media rights contract in 2028 to help with the 23-year-old free agent's salary bump.
Rodman was reportedly on board to accept the offer, which averaged over $1 million per year, but according to Bloomberg, Berman blocked the deal due to its structure violating "the spirit of the rules."
Per the current NWSL CBA, there is no maximum salary for any individual player, and the competition manual does not ban year-to-year contractual salary increases so long as they do not exceed the team's salary cap — a figure that is currently on track to grow to $5.1 million by 2030.
As such, the NWSLPA has filed a grievance on Rodman's behalf, asserting that the vetoed contract offer does not violate any standing league rules.
Amid the ongoing negotiations to retain Rodman, the Spirit have also shored up their front office, hiring of former Orlando Pride sporting director Haley Carter as Washington's new president of soccer operations on Wednesday.
One of Carter's first goals is to re-sign Rodman.
"Trinity should be a cornerstone of what we're building in Washington," Carter told The Athletic. "We're committed, from a talent retention standpoint, from a league standpoint, to making that happen. It's just a matter of working with the league to see what the potential solutions are."
Orlando Pride VP of soccer operations and sporting director Haley Carter is stepping down, departing the 2024 NWSL champions to pursue other opportunities, the club announced on Tuesday.
Carter joined the 2024 Shield-winners in January 2023, ushering in arguably the most successful era for the Orlando club thus far by bringing in top talents like striker Barbra Banda, defender Emily Sams, and former Liga MX star Lizbeth Ovalle to help the Pride climb the NWSL standings.
"We'd like to extend our gratitude to Haley for her contributions to the Pride over the past three years," Orlando owner Mark Wilf said in a statement. "Haley played a key leadership role with our club, positioning the Pride among the NWSL's and world's elite clubs."
"I'm beyond thankful to Mark Wilf and the entire ownership group for giving me the opportunity to be part of this club and for their unwavering support throughout my time here," said Carter.
Carter will continue working with the Pride during its transition period as the club searches for its new sporting director.
"We have begun a diligent and methodical search for a new soccer leader who will have the opportunity to work with a championship-caliber roster and coaching staff," said Wilf, before promising that the Pride will "continue its trajectory of success."