Who are the top WNBA free agents? Get ready for a wild offseason after a new CBA deal
For the last three offseasons, WNBA players have been timing their contracts so that they would enter free agency in the 2026 offseason. The team-building process has been interrupted because the vast majority of players refused to sign deals that extended beyond the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement. In 2020, the last time a new CBA came into effect, a minority of the league could cash in on the 30 percent increase to the salary cap.
This time, everyone wanted to benefit from the massive salary increases promised by a new revenue-sharing model. Those hopes have been realized with the WNBA and players’ union agreeing to a historic deal early Wednesday morning. The 2026 minimum salary of approximately $300,000 will exceed the 2025 maximum , and the highest-paid players (a supermax salary of $1.
4 million) could make more than five times the previous supermax. The salary cap in 2026 will be $7 million, according to sources with knowledge of the deal. A financial windfall is on the way, and now we can turn our attention to the players who will be signing the biggest contracts in WNBA history.
The pool of free agents is massive — more than 100 are unrestricted along with a strong set of restricted free agents. Front offices will have their work cut out navigating a new cap environment, re-recruiting their own players and wooing just about everyone else in the league. Teams can extend qualifying offers April 7-8 with negotiations set for April 9-11.
The signing period will be April 12-18. Here are the top 20 players to keep an eye on when the starting gun sounds on free agency, excluding A’ja Wilson, who has already announced her intentions to return to Las Vegas on a supermax contract. 1.
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