LOS ANGELES/WASHINGTON, — Washington Spirit forward Trinity Rodman has signed a three-year contract extension that will keep her with the NWSL club through the 2028 season, in a deal valued at more than $2 million per year including bonuses, according to multiple reports and sources familiar with the agreement.
The agreement makes the 23-year-old U.S. international the highest-paid female footballer in the world, eclipsing previous benchmark deals in the women’s game and underscoring the NWSL’s effort to retain elite talent amid growing competition from European clubs.
Spirit majority owner Michele Kang said the club viewed Rodman as a cornerstone asset on and off the pitch. “Trinity is a generational player,” Kang said in a statement, adding that the contract reflects the organisation’s belief that “elite talent deserves elite commitment.”
Rodman, the daughter of NBA Hall of Famer Dennis Rodman, has been one of the league’s most marketable and productive players since entering the NWSL as the No. 2 overall pick in the 2021 draft. She helped Washington win the 2021 NWSL Championship in her rookie season and later signed a then-record deal that expired at the end of 2025, setting the stage for months of high-profile negotiations.
Those talks became a test case for the league’s roster and budget rules. In late 2025, commissioner Jessica Berman rejected a proposed structure that league officials said violated the “spirit” of the salary-cap system, prompting the NWSL Players Association to file a grievance.
The league’s response was the introduction of the “High Impact Player” mechanism, announced Dec. 23, 2025, which allows clubs to exceed the salary cap by up to $1 million to recruit or retain top-tier players. The NWSLPA has since filed a separate grievance seeking rescission of the rule, arguing it was implemented without required bargaining.
Internationally, Rodman remains central to the U.S. women’s national team setup, with 47 appearances and 11 goals, and she was part of the squad that won Olympic gold in Paris in 2024
