Trinity Rodman, the US national team forward, has signed a new three-year contract to stay with Washington Spirit and will reportedly be the world\u2019s highest-paid women\u2019s player.<\/p>\n
The record deal, announced on Thursday, ends months of uncertainty<\/a> around the 23-year-old\u2019s future. Her previous contract \u2013 a $1.1m, four-year deal \u2013 expired in December and she was understood to have received lucrative offers from Europe<\/a>, which the Spirit were unable to initially match under the NWSL\u2019s salary cap rules.<\/p>\n Her new deal, which runs through the 2028 season, comes after the NWSL created a new \u201cHigh Impact Player Rule\u201d<\/a> that permits clubs to spend up to $1m above the salary cap if the player in question meets any one of a specific list of criteria that demonstrates their star credentials, such as being named in the top 40 of the Guardian\u2019s Top 100 women\u2019s footballers for the past two years or finishing in the top 30 in the Ballon d\u2019Or for the past two years.<\/p>\n There was a clear perception across the NWSL that Rodman staying with the league was crucial, following the high-profile departures<\/a> of several of the league\u2019s biggest names over the past 12 months, including Naomi Girma and Alyssa Thompson\u2019s moves to Chelsea and \u2013 earlier this month \u2013 Sam Coffey\u2019s headline-grabbing transfer to Manchester City.<\/p>\n \u201cAll of us are profoundly grateful that she has chosen to stay with us, despite some compelling alternatives,\u201d Spirit owner Michele Kang said at a press conference in Los Angeles on Thursday, before later adding: \u201cI\u2019m just very happy to tell you, I did deliver, didn\u2019t I?\u201d<\/p>\n Rodman, an Olympic gold medalist with the US in 2024, wore a jacket and tie as she signed her contract on stage along Kang. She has spent her entire professional career with the Spirit since the club selected her in the 2021 NWSL draft, winning a championship that season and reaching the final twice.<\/p>\n \u201cIt feels amazing. I\u2019m very happy, I\u2019m very blessed. I think it\u2019s a monumental and gamechanging moment,\u201d the California-born forward said. \u201cEveryone is going to have their opinions on it \u2013 but I\u2019ve never really cared.<\/p>\n \u201cGoing into the off-season [someone asked me], \u2018Do you feel like you\u2019re finished with Spirit?\u2019 and I didn\u2019t even need half a second to answer, I was like, \u2018no\u2019. There\u2019s so much more that I have to give.\u201d<\/p>\n Kang did not want to be drawn on exactly how the deal had been reached. The club\u2019s president of soccer operations, Haley Carter, when probed on whether the \u201cHigh Impact Player Rule\u201d had been deployed for the deal, appeared to confirm that was the case, with Carter mentioning \u201cthe need to think creatively about the solutions that enable the NWSL<\/a> to attract and retain world-class talent\u201d before adding: \u201cThe key takeaway is the willingness of the board of governors to think of creative ways to retain that talent.\u201d<\/p>\n