No. 1 Gotham is revving its engine, as the defending NWSL champion reportedly re-signed USWNT midfielder Rose Lavelle through 2029 despite “aggressive offers” from competing clubs.
Lavelle was set to become one of the NWSL’s highest-profile 2027 free agents. Gotham — already nearing the salary-cap max — is likely using the new High Impact Player rule to seal the deal.
“I think every team wants to sign Rose Lavelle,” Gotham President of Soccer Operations Yael Averbuch West told The NY Post in July. “So absolutely, we’re working every day on it.”
The World Cup and Olympic champion has been key to the Bats’ surge. She’s tallied four goals in 19 appearances, sparking a nine-game unbeaten run that has Gotham five points clear atop the table.
Lavelle scored the game-winner in the 2025 title match and helped lift the inaugural Concacaf W Champions Cup. And she’s subsequently anchoring Gotham’s bid for a first-ever NWSL Shield.
However, she’s currently in concussion protocol after suffering a head injury in August 23rd’s 0-0 draw with Angel City. Her status remains unclear ahead of this weekend’s match with No. 10 Denver.
Gotham visits the Summit on Sunday at 2 PM ET (CBS).
Gotham FC is finalizing a deal to bring Irish midfielder Denise O'Sullivan back to the NWSL. The 32-year-old will arrive on loan from Liverpool with a permanent obligation to buy, valued at €350,000.
Her contract would run through the 2029 season, plus a player option for 2030.
Why Denise O’Sullivan is Swapping Liverpool for Gotham FC
O'Sullivan spent just six months in England's Women's Super League before deciding to return stateside. Personal reasons reportedly drove the move.
Still, few NWSL teams can match what Gotham is assembling right now.
O'Sullivan brings nearly a decade with the North Carolina Courage, where she became the franchise's all-time appearance leader with 186 caps across all competitions. She captained the club starting in 2023 and helped secure two NWSL Championships and three NWSL Shields.
O’Sullivan Joins Defending NWSL Champion's Growing Roster
The signing extends Gotham's summer roster push.
The defending champions recently added Sam Kerr on a free transfer from Chelsea and re-signed Emily Sonnett under the league's new High Impact Player rule.
With the international transfer window opening today, O'Sullivan could debut as early as Wednesday's match against the Washington Spirit at Citi Field, a rematch of the 2025 NWSL Championship.
NWSL heavy-hitters are up for grabs, as the players association released the 2027 free agent list, clearing eligible players to begin scouting contracts from clubs across the league.
Rose Lavelle (Gotham), Sophia Wilson (Portland), and Marta (Orlando) headline this season’s class.
Other standouts include Gotham’s Ann-Katrin Berger, Jess Carter, and Midge Purce, Chicago’s Alyssa Naeher, Portland’s Jessie Fleming, San Diego’s Adrianna Leon, and Washington’s Andi Sullivan and Hal Hershfelt.
Under the NWSL’s CBA, any player whose contract expires at the end of 2026 can now begin negotiating 2027 deals regardless of service time.
Players can sign with a new team at any time, but can’t join that club before January 1st, 2027, with unsigned players becoming unattached free agents.
USWNT manager Emma Hayes is eager to see star forward Trinity Rodman back on the pitch, as the 23-year-old forward returned to the national team roster for the first time since April this week.
"This week, I said we've missed you in many ways, most of all because she just brings a little bit of color," Hayes said on ESPN's Futbol W on Wednesday. "She's got a great personality and she injects that into the environment."
"I've given her some responsibility this week and I think it's good for her," Hayes continued. "And she wants that, she's ready to take the next steps in her career."
A lingering back injury compounded by a late-season MCL sprain saw Rodman's USWNT appearances severely limited in 2025.
The NWSL free agent also made headlines when this month's non-FIFA window US training camp roster dropped, with Rodman listed as "unattached" as she negotiates a new contract with the Washington Spirit.
"I think the thing for her this year is she's got to take responsibility, not just on the field but off the field," Hayes said of Rodman's recovery. "It's all about the other 22 hours, and what you do with that. If she can nail that, then I expect her to continue to thrive."
How to watch Rodman with the USWNT this week
The world No. 2 USWNT will take on No. 46 Paraguay in the team's first 2026 friendly on Saturday.
The clash will kick off live at 5:30 PM ET on TNT.
The NWSL Players Association is speaking out, filing a grievance against the league's new "High Impact Player" rule on Monday after claiming that the mechanism violates both the CBA and US labor laws.
"Player compensation is a mandatory subject of bargaining," the union said in its Wednesday statement. "The League has no authority to unilaterally create a new pay structure that bypasses negotiated rules."
The union requested "immediate rescission of the HIP Rule, an order requiring the League to bargain in good faith over any proposed Player compensation rules prior to implementation, and to make-whole relief for any Players impacted by the League's unilateral actions."
With the future of stars like Trinity Rodman hanging in the balance, the "High Impact Player" rule allows clubs to exceed the salary cap by up to $1 million so long as players qualify under specific criteria — measures that a mere 27 current NWSL athletes currently meet.
The NWSLPA instead suggested simply raising the overall salary cap by $1 million, with the NWSL going on to institute the rule despite union objections.
"We want to make sure everybody has a level playing field," NWSLPA executive director Meghann Burke told The Athletic in December. "If the league can come in here and put their thumb on the scale…they can put their thumb on the scale of any player's contract negotiation."
With free agency heating up, players making moves, and the 2026 NWSL preseason kicking off, the pressure is mounting for both sides to figure out a lasting fix.
As the NWSL preseason rapidly approaches, the league's two incoming expansion teams announced key additions to their rosters over the last week as they pad out their inaugural squads.
On Tuesday, Denver Summit FC officially announced the signing of USYNT and CF Pachuca Femenil defender Ayo Oke for a reported $450,000 transfer fee — the most ever paid for an incoming US national.
The 22 year-old Cal and UCLA alum has been a mainstay in the USWNT youth pipeline since 2018, and became a Liga MX champion in her first-ever professional season last year.
"I'm excited to join Denver Summit FC and be part of building something new," said Oke in the club's announcement. "I'm ready to compete, grow, and help set the standard from day one."
Meanwhile on the East Coast, Boston Legacy FC has been more than keeping pace, bringing on Brazil national team defender Andressa "Kaká" Ferreira from top Brazilian side São Paulo, Colombian center back Jorelyn Carabalí from the WSL's Brighton & Hove Albion, Mexico international and former Club América left back Nicki Hernández, and Canada winger and NWSL free agent Bianca St-Georges — signing the quartet over the last six days.
With the NWSL expansion draft a thing of the past, Denver and Boston have been proactive in their acquisitions from the jump.
Denver has stocked up on NWSL veterans like Carson Pickett, Kaleigh Kurtz, Jordan Baggett, and first-ever signing Ally Watt — all of whom have earned at least one league championship — while Boston added reigning NWSL champ Ella Stevens while also targeting rising international stars like Brazil's Amanda Gutierres and Laís Araújo.
With the 2026 NWSL campaign looming, clubs only have a few weeks left to finalize their preseason rosters — with more than a few big-name free agents still in the mix.
The NWSL has made a decision, as the league officially moves forward with its new "High Impact Player" rule despite stated opposition from the players union.
Announced last week, the rule change allows clubs to exceed to the NWSL salary cap by up to $1 million to attract or retain players that meet one of eight qualifying metrics set by the league.
Those metrics include major media award rankings like the 30-player Ballon d'Or shortlist and ESPN FC's Top 50 Football Players, as well as marketing power, top USWNT minutes, and end-of-year NWSL awards.
Developed with Washington Spirit superstar — and current free agent — Trinity Rodman and her potential contract in mind, the "High Impact Player" rule will not go into effect until July 1st, 2026.
Meanwhile, the NWSLPA has spoken out against the mechanism, proposing instead to up the salary cap by $1 million without league-imposed spending regulations.
"Under federal labor law, changes to compensation under the salary cap are a mandatory subject of bargaining — not a matter of unilateral discretion," the union wrote on Wednesday.
Additionally, per The Athletic, NWSLPA executive director Meghann Burke expressed concerns that the rule ties top athlete pay, in part, to player valuations in third party publications — a move that externally defines who a club can consider "high impact."
Led by six Kansas City athletes and five from Gotham FC, just 27 current NWSL players across 10 of the 16 clubs in the expanded 2026 season meet the new HIP qualifying criteria — though all teams could use the mechanism to attract a new athlete to the league.
In a growing global market, the NWSL could be falling into a trap of half-measures, as the union pushes back with league parity potentially on the line.
The NWSL Players Association is not on board with the league's latest proposal, rejecting the NWSL's new "High Impact Player" rule allowing teams to exceed the salary cap by up to $1 million to retain star athletes.
According to the current CBA, the union — rather than the league — has the final sign-off on all changes regarding compensation.
"The league is trying to control and interfere by trying to dictate which players [benefit from] this pot of funds," NWSLPA executive director Meghann Burke told ESPN. "How you measure a player's value, both in terms of sporting merit and business criteria, is nuanced. It is more complicated than a handful of bullet points."
The NWSLPA has instead suggested that the league simply raise the 2026 salary cap by $1 million, giving clubs the same spending discretion without the star player mechanism.
Citing concerns about the rule's potential long-term implications on the market, roster structures, and locker-room culture, Burke noted that "We just don't feel that it delivers anything of value that simply increasing the team salary cap wouldn't, without having negative consequences."
"Our position is that teams — GMs, soccer ops, business folks at the team level — are uniquely positioned to make judgment calls about how to structure their rosters, how to negotiate deals," Burke continued. "It is within the purview of the teams to make those judgement calls, and in a system of free agency like we all agreed to, that's how it works. It's a free market."
"We are actively reviewing feedback from the NWSLPA as part of the consultation process outlined in the CBA," an NWSL spokesperson said in response.
"The league remains committed to being the home of the world's best talent, and this path gives our clubs the opportunity to pursue that goal while raising overall player investment."
USWNT star Sophia Wilson is returning to Portland, with Sportico reporting on Tuesday that the 25-year-old is exercising her one-year player option with the Thorns — keeping her in the NWSL through the 2026 season.
Written into the striker's 2024 contract with Portland, the option is worth $1 million, officially making Wilson the US domestic league's highest-paid player.
The 2022 NWSL MVP missed the 2025 NWSL campaign due to pregnancy, but plans to return next season after giving birth to her daughter in September.
Notably, Wilson's re-signing comes as the NWSL reckons with salary cap limitations, and follows the league recently rejecting the Washington Spirit's multi-million dollar offer to retain fellow USWNT "Triple Espresso" star Trinity Rodman.
While ESPN reported last week that the NWSL Board of Governors is considering adopting a "High Impact Player" rule to allow teams to exceed the salary cap, the league has yet to officially announce any such new mechanism — and it isn't clear if Wilson's one-year deal qualifies for the potential change.
Considering the current NWSL base salary cap is $3.5 million, but will jump to $4.4 million in 2027 — the same year Wilson will become a free agent — the Thorns star could see her next contract surpass this week's record-setting deal.
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."