The full list of 2025 free agents in the National Women’s Soccer League is out and it features plenty of heavy hitters and fan favorites, including Gotham FC forward Midge Purce and Houston Dash midfielder Sophie Schmidt.
While it’s exciting to see big names enter free agency, it doesn’t necessarily mean similarly big movement — especially for players who have landed at clubs close to home or near the end of their careers.
While it might encourage clubs to re-negotiate better contracts with players to keep them in-market, in other cases there may also be leverage on the club side knowing that a player wants to stay. Alyssa Naeher, Marta or Christine Sinclair, so closely identified with their current clubs and probably carrying hefty base salaries were they to move, might not actually be priority signings for other clubs, especially managing their salary caps at this point in the season.
The NWSL Players Association shared an initial list of free agents on August 26 — in part to celebrate Women’s Equality Day — but it did not include any players who had contract options (enforceable or not) for the 2025 season. Some potential free agents have already agreed to new deals with their teams, such as Paige Nielsen with the Houston Dash.
The list released on Friday now…
