NWSL 2026 officially kicks off this upcoming weekend! It’s been an interesting offseason. There have been a couple of big moves like Sophia Wilson triggering her Player Option with the Thorns, Croix Bethune moving from the Washington Spirit to the Kansas City Current, and Lindsey Heaps announcing her move back stateside with the expansion side, Denver Summit, at the end of her season in Europe with OL Lyonnes. Perhaps the most important both over and undercurrent, though, is Trinity Rodman’s new contract with the Washington Spirit and the league’s new “High Impact Player Rule” (HIP).

The NWSL is famously, a salary capped league, despite being common in the US, ultimately, a rarity in the world of global football. Parity, or high intra-league competition, is the reason the league often cites for keeping the salary cap. This usually results in NWSL always feeling exciting, however, it makes trying to compete within a global player market difficult. The most elite players from all over the world can earn more, access high quality facilities, and experience competitive training environments if they become targets of teams like Chelsea, Arsenal, or OL Lyonnes just to name a few. The NWSL may have the most competitive top-to-bottom league table, but will the very best in the world be willing to take a pay cut?

For those unfamiliar, at the end of the 2025 NWSL season, Trinity Rodman’s rookie contract with the Spirit expired. On top of being a great player, Rodman is one of the most easily recognizable faces in soccer, especially in the US. With high-profile USWNT players like Naomi Girma, Alyssa Thompson, and now Sam Coffey leaving the NWSL for the WSL in England, fears that Rodman would do the same were high. While money is not the only reason players have moved overseas, it’s certainly a perk for the most elite players in the world that frankly, the NWSL cannot match due to the salary cap.

Despite the Spirit negotiating a multi-year, back-loaded contract with Trinity (something common in sports), the league struck this deal down citing it was in violation of “the spirit of the rules.” Aside from this “violation,” the contract complied with the collective bargaining agreement (CBA). This led to a series of events involving the NWSL Players Association (NWSLPA) that have led to various grievances, but also the HIP rule.

This new rule by the NWSL allows teams to spend an extra $1 million outside of the salary cap on players that fall into a variety of criteria that primarily deal with marketability and revenue. Click the following here to read more about the saga and criteria. Why the league could not decide to just raise the salary cap by $1 million, I do not know…

For a while there the news cycle was very slow. It seemed like teams weren’t sure how to navigate this ongoing issue. Will the new rule be struck down at some point? However, at this point it seems likely that Rodman’s new contract with the Spirit and Heaps’s Denver contract use HIP funds.

So what does all this mean for Angel City in 2026? In my opinion, it hopefully means at least one big name, hopefully a forward, coming during the summer transfer window. Why not right now? Well, it would have been great to start the season with a quality striker, but of the NWSL pickings, Wilson stayed in Portland, Bia moved to Palmeiras in Brazil, and Ludmila moved to San Diego from Chicago. Outside of that, I’m not sure who I would be trying to poach from other teams. Ella Stevens could have been a good option, but she was injured for much of 2025, and I feel like she deserves to shine and become a leader with the Boston Legacy. Ally Schlegel, who moved from the Chicago Stars to the North Carolina Courage, might have been an underrated get, but I think I would still want Angel City to see if they can snag someone else down the line.

That leaves the summer transfer window where contracts across Europe will be ending, and upcoming free agents like Manaka Matsukubo or the aforementioned Wilson might be looking for their next landing spot. Angel City acquired another international spot in this offseason leaving two available for future signings. There is still time for players to get new contracts from their current club or sign with other teams in Europe but players like Catarina Macario, Khadija “Bunny” Shaw, and Salma Parauello among others will be free agents. Will Angel City land these players? Who knows, but both Parsons and Straus have mentioned that they will not fill the roster because there is space. They want to make sure that players coming in suit their vision and will fulfill crucial roles on the team, not just to pad the roster. The fact that there is no striker among this offseason’s incoming signings indicates that whatever targets they had did not pan out, and their sights are set on others for future windows.

For now perhaps Angel City fans can look forward to the return of Sydney Leroux. Prior to the home opener last season, Leroux announced via her Instagram that she would be taking a step back from soccer to focus on her mental health. Eventually she reported that she had made her way back into training but almost immediately tore her calf, but was rehabilitating fairly quickly. Soon after that, though, things went radio silent and her status on the availability report changed from “OUT - Lower Leg” to “Excused Absence“ and she did not end up playing a single minute in 2025. After the season ended Leroux addressed the situation on Instagram saying that she had been struggling with disordered eating, but was working on recovering. On March 4, she posted her intent to return to the pitch sometime this season.

Leroux’s new contract through the end of the 2027 season that she was given at the end of the 2024 season garnered mixed response from fans at best. It’s true, Leroux is on the wrong side of the age curve for performance, especially for forwards. You could see a bit of this throughout 2024, but she still scored seven goals. Equivalent performance in 2025 could have significantly improved Angel City’s table position last year. It’s not nothing.

You have to give it to her as well; Leroux is a big personality and a pioneer in the women’s soccer space. One of the few Black women on the USWNT in the early 2010’s. Someone who advocated for improved support of mothers within the NWSL. A player who returned from pregnancy twice to continue her career. Leroux has delivered some of Angel City’s biggest moments like the bicycle kick goal against Portland, and the late winner against Louisville; she has also shared her family with the fans with Cassius and Roux feeling like part of the team. For me, if Leroux wants to return to the pitch, I welcome that and welcome that opportunity for the club to do right by this player in what will likely be her final year(s) as a professional soccer player.

Before getting into the moves Angel City did make this offseason, I think it’s important to acknowledge the massive roster turnover that occurred during the second half of the 2025 NWSL season. Fans watched players like Nealy Martin, Hina Sugita, and Sveindís Jónsdóttir trickle in to the squad during the back half of the season and make an impact. Some may feel like they’re ready for a bunch of new players already. However, it’s important to remember that many of these new players haven’t even played half a season with Angel City yet. A ton of players have left the squad. This is a very different team now and it’s time for their moment in the sun.

Angel City’s 2025 was extremely turbulent. New Head Coach Alex Straus did not join the club until June. Savy King experienced a life-threatening medical emergency during a match. We now know that Leroux was struggling with various mental health issues throughout the year. Players were in and out. Legends like Christen Press and Ali Riley retired. Alyssa Thompson left for Chelsea midseason. Straus was flying the plane while actively taking it apart and rebuilding it, and I don’t know if what we saw last season should be indicative of what we will see this season.

As much as fans may be tired of hearing this, it is fine to be patient right now. They’re basically completely starting over. With Julie Uhrman leaving her role of CEO for new role of “Principal Advisor,” the top-to-bottom regime change finally feels complete. Right now, Sarah Gorden and Jun Endo are the last remaining Day One players on the roster, add Leroux and Claire Emslie onto players that arrived during the inaugural season. Let this group get their sea legs.

Angel City made six signings this offseason:

Additionally, they extended 2025 Rookie of the Year candidate Riley Tiernan’s contract through 2028. Young Colombian international Maithe Lopez was loaned to Vancouver Rise in Canada. Players that left included:

Through waves of turnover since Mark Parsons took over as Sporting Director, Angel City has become much younger and much more solid through central areas. Aside from perhaps the post-2023 World Cup iteration of this team, the spine of this team has always been shaky. Angel City has always had dynamic and dangerous wide players, but had trouble progressing the ball centrally, and an astounding ability to get beat in transition. Players like Martin and Sugita made an almost immediate impact on these issues, which I think will only continued to be improved with the additions of Borges and Sams.

Savy King played significant minutes at the Coachella Valley Invitational in 2026, but it’s still not necessarily clear whether she will be ready to be playing back-to-back 90’s by opening day. Even if she is not, I think that Straus ultimately will bring back the 3-5-2 in possession that we saw at the end of 2025 when she is.

Sams is a good passer, and the best among these three. I will feel a lot more confident in her quarterbacking in a back three than Sara Doorsoun. Between her, King, and Gorden I think there will be a better balance of dynamism, progressive actions, and tidiness in the back. Overall, I think there will be less pressure on pacy wingers to dribble the ball entirely into the attacking third and there will be a bit more diversity in how Angel City progresses the ball.

Above is a visualization ranking Angel City’s outfield college recruits by various metrics, by role, and overall. I don’t watch NCAA ball but all three field players seem to be solid pick ups with potential. It should be noted that Taylor Suarez out of FSU left college early to go professional, while Carina Lageyre and Karsyn Cherry were seniors, which may contribute to Suarez’s comparatively lower rankings. However, she rated highly in chance creation and finishing, which with some further development, will hopefully bolster the attack. At the Coachella Valley Invitational, it seemed like she was playing some right winger, so perhaps she shall be the heir apparent to Claire Emslie.

All in all, Angel City has a decent roster going into the 2026 season. There are a couple of questions around the return timelines of Leroux and Jun Endo, which means that if they weren’t already, Angel City will likely be scoring by committee. Without a new forward signing, they would likely be in this position anyway. In the offseason, I hope it was a high priority for the coaching staff to stave off a sophomore slump for Riley Tiernan. Hopefully the time off and contract extension gave her the boosted confidence she’ll need in Straus’s system. Either way, as stated before, I hope that Parsons and Straus have their eyes on a forward to bring in over the summer.

Angel City has a very solid base to build around now. It feels ridiculous to be in yet another building year, but again the old guard has finally been replaced from ownership, sporting, and players. This is where things really begin, and I trust that the front office will make the decisions that need to be made in the summer window after seeing how this first half of the season goes. Angel City should be in the playoff hunt this season and I’m looking forward to getting into a new season on Sunday.

**Images courtesy of Angel City