The WNBA is hurtling into a transformed offseason and a dramatically different 2026 economic landscape, but for most of the league the work of getting rosters set hasn’t even begun. The season opens May 8, yet the vast majority of veteran players — who collectively signed contracts that deliberately expired after 2025 to benefit from a new collective bargaining agreement — remain free agents as franchises and stars prepare for a compressed, high-stakes negotiation window.
The new CBA has overhauled pay in the league: the salary cap will rise from $1.5 million to $7 million, a 466 percent increase; supermax contracts jump roughly 561 percent to about $1.4 million from the prior $250,000 range; minimum salaries are set above $300,000 and the average salary will be around $600,000. Those figures help explain why nearly every veteran allowed their deals to lapse into this offseason — the opportunity to lock in significantly higher pay under the new terms is unprecedented in WNBA history.
League officials have set a tight timeline. Qualifying offers are due April 6 and 7, a three-day pre-free-agency negotiation period runs April 8-10, and players will be eligible to sign new contracts beginning April 11. The expansion draft to stock the league’s two new franchises, the Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo, is scheduled for April 3, the collegiate draft on April 13 and the preseason begins April 19 — meaning teams have little more than a month to rebuild or reinforce rosters ahead of the season.
Despite the frenzy, a handful of marquee players have already signaled their intentions. Las Vegas Aces star A’ja Wilson told reporters at a Team USA media availability she does not plan to test the market: “I’m not leaving Vegas, so I’m not looking anywhere.” Wilson, coming off a 2025 championship with the Aces, is widely expected to sign a supermax to remain in Las Vegas. In New York, Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu — the duo that delivered the Liberty their first title in 2024 — confirmed this week they plan to stay in the city. “Good luck to everybody else in free agency,” Stewart said, “but I’m not a part of that.”
Even as elite talents signal continuity, the depth of the free-agent class is extensive and will shape several franchises. Notable names hitting the market include Phoenix’s Alyssa Thomas, Kahleah Copper and Satou Sabally; Indiana’s Kelsey Mitchell; Minnesota’s Napheesa Collier; Seattle-linked veterans such as Nneka Ogwumike and Skylar Diggins; and Dallas’s Arike Ogunbowale. How teams allocate the higher salaries and construct rosters against the new cap will be a central storyline this spring.
Coaching moves add further churn: New York’s title-winning coach Sandy Brondello has departed to join expansion Toronto, and former Warriors assistant Chris DeMarco is set to lead the Liberty in 2026. For expansion clubs Portland and Toronto, the April 3 draft will be their first opportunity to fill rosters, with the collegiate draft and the free-agent signing period to follow quickly.
This offseason marks an inflection point for the league — a sudden surge in financial resources, mass veteran free agency, two new franchises and compressed deadlines that together could reshape competitive balance. With only a few high-profile commitments so far, the coming weeks will reveal whether the big-name players stay put or whether the new economic reality fuels major movement around the WNBA.