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The entire women's soccer audience is keeping an eye on the free agency race for Trinity Rodman. As 2025 comes to a close, a new wrinkle in the negotiation mix comes into play -- a historic vote.

The NWSL's Board of Governors is in advanced talks to approve a new financial mechanism, per ESPN. In a dramatic policy shift crafted to retain the Washington Spirit forward, and other star players, from fleeing to lucrative overseas offers, this would allow teams to pay higher salaries beyond the league's strict salary cap.

The potential new mechanism wouldn't be the first of its kind in American pro soccer, but would be new to NWSL. Unlike MLS' designated player rule, the proposed concept would not allow teams to offer unlimited funds to any player. Each club would have a set amount of money beyond the current cap to spend on star players that meet specific criteria, and funds could be used on multiple players. A vote on the new proposal also includes finalizing the parameters that define a "star" player.

Following a 2024 Olympic gold medal win, the U.S. women's national team winger and Washington Spirit forward had become the most prolific face in American women's soccer at the moment, leaving plenty to follow her offseason journey as the biggest free agent on the market. 

As the new year approaches, the 23-year-old has been transparent about her desire to stay stateside and play in the NWSL, but with ongoing salary-cap discussions, back-and-forth discourse between the league and Rodman's representation, and a grievance filed by the NWSL Players Association, the waters of negotiations have become a bit murky. 

While rumors of overseas offers are nearly a month old now, there's still time for anything to happen, including a stateside offer from the USL Super League. As the contract saga continues, we're here to help you keep up with the biggest offseason story of the year, with a look back at key points of Rodman's career, with a helpful timeline of events that have led up to the final month of 2025.

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Trinity Rodman contract saga timeline

To understand just how the contract negotiations arrived to the point of the players union filing a grievance, let's start with Rodman's rookie season and through 2025:

October 2021: Rodman caps off historic rookie season

Rodman caps off a historic rookie season in NWSL by winning the 2021 NWSL Championship. After being drafted No. 2 overall in the 2021 NWSL Draft, the next-gen player earns starting minutes for her club side, racking up assists (five) and goals (six) in the regular season, and wins Rookie of the Year honors. 

She also won U.S. Soccer's Young Female Player of the Year and was voted on the 2021 NWSL Best XI First Team. Her historic season leads to a new contract, a record-setting $1.1 million deal paid out over four years. 

August 2024: New ownership after new coaches

The club pivots to new ownership, with new executive leadership, after multiple rotated head coaches between 2022 and 2023,  and finally looks primed to clinch a postseason birth. Rodman thrives under new management across the board with the national team and club. 

USWNT Head Coach Emma Hayes has only 70 days to build toward the Olympics and quickly solidifies her top attacking line for the tournament with Rodman, Sophia Wilson, and Mallory Swanson. They go on an attacking spree, scoring 10 of the USWNT's goals, and are dubbed "Triple Espresso."

November 2024: Return to the title game

Rodman and the Washington Spirit finally return to the NWSL Championship for the first time since winning during her rookie season in 2021. 

Though the post-Olympic grind catches up to Rodman as she tries to manage the fatigue and back injury, her minutes are shortened ahead of November, but she plays two 120-minute playoff matches before going a full 90 minutes in the NWSL Championship, where she continues to play through her injury. The Spirit fell to eventual champions Orlando Pride, 1-0, and Rodman prepares to enter the final year of her contract with the NWSL side. 

January 2025: Rodman's contract almost up

Rodman begins her contract year, and clubs overseas are already "monitoring her situation" ahead of the NWSL season. 

She also begins her long absence from the U.S. women's national team. Her 2025 starts with extensive time off to manage a back injury. The winger has had some back flare-ups since her rookie season with the Spirit, but a long 2024 postseason run to the NWSL Championship final on the tail-end of the Summer Olympics means a lengthy time away for some recovery. 

February 2025: Slowly returning

NWSL teams meet the hard deadline to start preseason training camps by Feb. 5, as per collective bargaining agreement rules, clubs must allow for a five to eight-week preseason before competitive matches. 

The Washington Spirit competition calendar begins a week prior to the regular season due to their participation in the 2025 NWSL Challenge Cup. Rodman was with the club for preseason training, though the expectation was that she would gradually work her way into form. 

March 2025: Rodman begins her season

Rodman begins her NWSL campaign after time away from U.S national team camps. She missed out on January camps and the SheBelieves Cup but was with the Spirit during their preseason build-up toward the 2025 Challenge Cup. She dressed for the cup match, which the Spirit won on penalties, but did not play.

The winger slowly built up her minutes during the regular season and played 45 minutes to an hour prior to April. Rodman also mentions in an interview that she's not sure her back "will ever be 100 percent," and that it's a matter of "when she plays in Europe." Her increase in minutes leads to a call-up to the USWNT roster. 

April 2025: A return to the USWNT

Rodman made the USWNT game day roster for April friendlies against Brazil after increased minutes for the Washington Spirit. She scored a goal in the 2-0 win against the South Americans, but following the international window, she had an injury setback. 

USA coach Hayes and the Washington Spirit staff confirm that Rodman would go to Europe to work with team doctors on managing her back injury. There was no timetable for her return in order for the player to focus on recovery. 

August 2025: Monumental comeback goal

Rodman made a triumphant return to the pitch and scored in her first club game since April. It's an emotional moment, and the player continued to build up her momentum throughout the month. She increased her minutes load in NWSL regular-season matches toward the end of August.

September 2025: Picking up steam at just the right time

Rodman returned to playing full 90-minute games and regained form. She scored three goals and notched two assists, and her performances earned her multiple honors, including spots on Attacking Third's Team of the Week and NWSL Player of the Month for September. 

Elsewhere, Chelsea FC signed U.S. women's national team winger Alyssa Thompson on a transfer from Angel City, and the move fueled more of the "USWNT players leaving NWSL" discourse among women's soccer faithful. The WSL club is no longer named in reports as a club interested in Rodman's services at this time. 

October 2025: Injury bug strikes again

Rodman's second-half season surge continues and shows no signs of slowing down. She plays more fully fit matches and continues her goal scoring as the season approaches the final stretch. Her strong form earns her another call-up back into U.S. national team camps for friendlies against Portugal and New Zealand, her first roster since April. 

The Washington Spirit staff and head coach Adrian Gonzalez, to this point, have done a respectable job of rotating a heavily injured Spirit roster, with several players managing respective injuries. The club's more recent success placed them in contention for the 2025 Concacaf W Champions Cup, a tournament that crowns a club champion in the region, and the competition serves as a qualifier for the future FIFA Women's Club World Cup. 

Rodman sustained a knee injury during the match against Monterrey on Oct. 15 and was later diagnosed with a grade 1 MCL sprain and withdrew from the October international window with the USWNT. She was placed on the Washington Spirit injury report for the remainder of the regular season. 

November 2025: Touch-and-go status, but contract on the mind

The Spirit staff were hopeful that the MCL sprain diagnosis could be reevaluated for the NWSL Playoffs. Rodman reported for training wearing a leg sleeve and no brace, and participated in light, no-contact training, ahead of the quarterfinal. She was available and dressed for the first playoff round but did not play any minutes in the Spirit's quarterfinal win over Racing Louisville FC.

The Spirit made quick work of the Portland Thorns in the semifinal round, and Rodman marked her 2025 playoff debut at the end of the game. She played only one minute, but in four touches, recorded a dangerous shot on goal. The semifinal win propelled the Spirit back to the NWSL Championship after their runners-up appearance a year ago.

Throughout the NWSL playoffs, Rodman's contract status was a key storyline as each game that passed was viewed with uncertainty on whether these were her final games in an NWSL jersey. NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman was questioned about the league's salary cap amid Rodman's status, in light of a new deal being offered by a rival league in the United States, and Berman responded that the NWSL "will fight to keep" Rodman in the league. 

The winger played in the title game on Nov. 22 and subbed on in the 55th minute of the match. It was her most increased minutes load since Oct. 15. The Spirit settled for runners-up in the 2025 NWSL Championship, this time to Gotham FC, 1-0. 

Per the CBA, the league's base salary cap will gradually increase over the years. The base salary cap will go from $3.3 million in 2025 to $3.5 million in 2026, and expand to $5.1 million in 2030, following notable broadcast negotiations after the current deal expires in 2027. The salary cap base number increases by the team revenue share each year and accounts for 10 percent of sponsorship and media revenue for the league. 

The attention around Rodman's contract status remains at an all high, and despite a year of injuries and setbacks, she is the high-profile player on the free agent market. She was transparent with the media throughout NWSL Championship week about making no decisions ahead of the final, and how she tried to block out the contract "noise."

December 2025: NWSLPA files grievance

The Washington Spirit named former Orlando Pride executive Haley Carter as the new club president of soccer operations, a move by the club that was perceived by analysts and the public as an effort to retain Rodman with the Spirit. Carter's hiring announcement came just hours before new reports emerged that Rodman and the Washington Spirit had reached a deal, but it was vetoed by NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman.

Berman's reasoning for turning down the contract was that "it went against the spirit of the league rules," though no specific rules were violated and not cited in further reporting. The initial new deal was set to be a four-year contract, with payout passing the million-dollar threshold per year, with a portion of the contract backloaded, and would have been the largest contract in NWSL history.

The new deal reportedly contained new-to-the-league mechanisms in paying a player, and a timeline that would crossover into future revenue growth options related to potential broadcast rights deals. League sources have indicated the backloaded offer contains unreasonable assumptions pertaining to the amount of future growth.  

In response, the NWSL Players Association filed a grievance on behalf of Rodman, which was reviewed by CBS Sports, and states that the league penalized Rodman's free agency rights and accused the player of "salary cap circumvention." The grievance also points out that the league violated multiple free agency protections previously negotiated in the CBA, including Section 13.6, which states a player's free agency rights "supersede any other inconsistent NWSL rules, regulations, handbooks, or competition guidelines." 

Section 8.1 highlights no threshold for maximum player salaries, only a minimum salary standard for players. It also notes the league is unable to reduce player benefits: "Nothing in this Section shall be construed to give the NWSL the right to limit or reduce benefits in any other part of this Agreement or any Standard Player Agreement."

The grievance was filed on Dec. 3, and the league has 14 days from the date of the PA's filing to sustain or deny it in writing. If no response is given, a two-person committee with one league and one PA representative would review the contract situation. If no resolution is met, the dispute heads to arbitration. 

The league and its player association navigate uncommon territory as Rodman's contract situation continues to unfold. The NWSL remains adamant that it wants to keep Rodman in the league despite rejecting the initial offer and running out of time to negotiate a deal. 

"Our goal is to ensure that the very best players in the world, including Trinity, continue to call this league home," the NWSL said in a statement to CBS Sports. "We will continue to do everything we can, utilizing every lever available within our rules to keep Trinity Rodman here."

The NWSLPA, though, claims the Spirit's initial offer is one that actually complies with the CBA as it currently exists.

"Trinity Rodman agreed to a compensation structure in good faith that would allow her to remain loyal to her first professional club, consistent with both the CBA and NWSL Competition Rules," the NWSLPA said in a statement to CBS Sports. "The NWSLPA has challenged the League's rejection of this agreement on the grounds that it violates her free agency rights, but this isn't about Trinity Rodman. If NWSL can deny her free agency rights, they can deny anyone's. The NWSLPA will not allow it."

As both sides try to navigate at a rapid pace, Rodman's representation is back to work for the player.

"We worked really hard to put together an agreement that we felt complied with the CBA (and) would keep Trinity in the league for the foreseeable future," Rodman's agent, Mike Senkowski, said on "CBS Mornings." 

"The NWSL doesn't have a certain way at the moment to pay her fair market value."

No new clubs have been named as suitors in the Rodman free agency market saga, though Senkowski did make it a point to note that he was doing his interview while in Madrid, Spain.

Rodman recently uploaded a holiday video blog that details her time in Spain. She recorded her flight and discussed participation in a marketing shoot. She also includes a clip of her agent off camera and jokingly says, "Currently my agent is raging about, ya know. You already know."

Latest update

December 11, 2025: The NWSL's Board of Governors is in advanced talks to approve a new financial mechanism. The proposal framework would allow each team to have a set amount of money beyond the current salary cap to spend on star players who meet certain criteria, and those funds could be used on multiple players. The proposal still needs to pass with a vote.

What's next?

While no current European clubs have reportedly thrown out their bids, Rodman's agent also reminded "CBS Mornings" that she has offers with more money on the table, and alluded to the offer that D.C. Power made during the NWSL postseason.

As the league takes its time to respond to the filed grievance, it could reopen a window to renegotiations elsewhere. Transfer windows for many European clubs open Jan. 1 and close at the end of the month.