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Free agency in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) officially opened on Wednesday. The top names on the board this summer include Portland Thorns forward Sophia Wilson, alongside the likes of Gotham FC midfielder Rose Lavelle and Orlando Pride forward Marta.The Thorns are in a familiar spot with Wilson, having negotiated her contract extension ahead of the 2025 season, which included an option year — and made Wilson the first player to cross the seven figures mark for a year’s salary.
What it takes to retain top talent from a salary point in the NWSL has changed significantly since the last time Portland was in talks with Wilson. The cap has risen as agreed upon in the current collective bargaining agreement, and will eventually reach more than $5 million by 2030. More drastically, the league introduced the High Impact Player rule in December when the Washington Spirit worked to re-sign forward Trinity Rodman. The rule, which allows clubs to pay certain players up to $1 million over the cap, took effect on July 1 alongside the opening of the free agency window.
“We’ve been working with (Wilson) for the better part of five or more months to try and get a deal done where she’s committed to Portland for the long term,” Thorns president of soccer operations and general manager Jeff Agoos told The Athletic on Wednesday.
“Our objective clearly is to re-sign Sophia.”
Agoos pointed to Wilson’s family dynamic that makes her negotiations a little more unique than most between her husband playing for the Arizona Cardinals and the addition of their daughter in September 2025. He highlighted the club’s extensive efforts to make Portland feel like a special place for her and her family to continue calling home.
“We’re doing everything we can to put together a package that speaks to the importance of Sophia and what she means to the team, both on and off the field,” Agoos said. “We don’t think that this is a competition, understanding where other teams are, where her value is. We’ve made her a really aggressive offer.”
There’s no timeline for the Thorns on when a new deal might get across the line, as Agoos said the club wants her to feel comfortable and supported in her decision to return. There are no strong rumblings out of other NWSL clubs as the free agency window opens, though Wilson has been linked to Denver Summit FC thanks to her Colorado roots.
Wilson is by far the most high profile of the Thorns’ free agents, but she is not the only one.
The Thorns are also actively pursuing contract extensions for midfielder and Canadian international Jessie Flemming and forward Pietra Tordin (who has a player option for 2027). The Thorns declined options for forward Mimi Alidou, midfielder Deyna Castellanos and defender Isabella Obaze, making them free agents as of July 1. Four more — defender Mallie McKenzie, midfielder Renee Lyles, midfielder Jennie Immethun and forward Alexa Spanstra (on loan with Utah) — are also on the free agency list.
Nine total for the Thorns, putting them toward the higher end of NWSL clubs with work ahead on 2027 rosters. While not in the territory of the Houston Dash with 13 players on the list, or the Pride with 14, there will still be changes ahead for the Thorns.
“Over the last three or four months, we’ve really been working hard with our technical staff, player personnel, our technical department to understand directionally what we think is the right thing for the organization, how players fit into the identity, how players fit in the long term strategy,” Agoos said Wednesday.
Portland sits in third on the table, only one point back from the league-leading San Diego Wave and two goals behind the Utah Royals in goal differential as the league starts back after it’s June break.
“We really want to push to win a championship, but we also want to make sure that we have the opportunity to be a championship-caliber team year over year,” said Agoos. Compensation trends and the shift away from a college draft in the NWSL make that a challenge across the board. Younger players such as Tordin or Gotham FC’s Jordynn Dudley now command better contracts than they would have a few seasons before — a positive for the player and the NWSL, but a challenge for general managers trying to stay under the salary cap.
For Agoos and the Thorns, it’s a matter of understanding the increased value for these younger players — but in their eyes, a player like Tordin is worth the investment.
“We see a huge ceiling for Pietra,” Agoos said of the 22-year-old forward with three goals and four assists so far this season. “Candidly, I’m a little surprised she hasn’t made it to the senior national team yet, but I think that’s just a matter of time. So we certainly understand the ceiling that Pietra has here with the Thorns, and like Sophia, we’re actively trying to get a deal done to keep her here in Portland for the long term.”
The high impact player rule, while still an imperfect solution to the league’s salary cap issues, does offer some relief, allowing clubs to side-step the issue of needing to pick and choose between retaining established stars and ponying up for young talent in a more expensive market.
“I think (the rule) is a positive step,” Agoos said. “It’s evolution and not revolution. The league is moving along the lines of being able to compete with the rest of the world, and the HIP rule really just allows the opportunity to do that.”
For the past couple of seasons, the Thorns have been working through the modern identity of the team — particularly following the retirements of players like Christine Sinclair, Becky Sauerbunn and Meghan Klingenberg. The departure of former captain Sam Coffey to Manchester City threw another wrench into that larger project, but considering the team’s success through the first portion of the 2026 season under head coach Robert Vilahamn, things are clicking at a rate most outside observers would not have expected.
“The Thorns of 2024 and the Thorns of 2026 are very different teams,” Agoos said. “It’s a much younger team. We know the league is more physical, we know it’s trending to more youth … so we’re trying to not only manage those sorts of trends, but to get in front of them as we think about what will happen in the future (with) league rules or trends that will follow in the next two to five years.”
With the free agency window open now, and the secondary transfer window opening on July 14, there is work ahead on all fronts.
For as much as Portland can point to the atmosphere of Providence Park or the imminent opening of their new training facility the club will share with their sister WNBA team, the Portland Fire, there is one thing Agoos won’t rely on when he’s making his pitch to players or long-term plans for the club’s success.
“There’s a legacy here, there’s no doubt about it,” he said. But the team’s history as three-time NWSL champions, he continued, can’t be relied on for its present or future results. Agoos pointed to his own playing career at DC United in the late ‘90s, when the team dominated the early days of Major League Soccer, and its recent struggles on the pitch over the past few seasons.
“You cannot rest on legacy,” he said. “You have to continue to be ahead of the curve, you have to continue to make sure both the present and future are taken care of. While we understand the privilege and pressures of legacy, there’s also a real goal to continue that success year over year.”
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
US Women's national team, Portland Thorns, NWSL, Women's Soccer
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