The WNBA season is right around the corner, and free agency is finally here. The free agency negotiation period starts on Wednesday, April 8th, and teams can begin signing free agents to new contracts on Saturday, April 11.
WNBA free agency 2026: Tracking every move as it happens
WNBA free agency gets started with the tampering period on Wednesday, April 8. Noa Dalzell and Chelsea Leite update us with all the notable signings and trades.
Noa Dalzell is a senior writer covering the WNBA and all of women’s basketball for Breakaway, SB Nation’s women’s sports vertical, as well as the Celtics for CelticsBlog.
Before this, qualifying offers and core player designations were sent out on April 6th and 7th.
Reserved players are players who are out of contract with three years of service or fewer. If they receive a Reserved qualifying offer, those players are subject to that team’s exclusive negotiating rights. If the club declines to offer the player a contract, they become unrestricted free agents.
Restricted free agents are players with at least four years of service whose contract has expired, and who receive a qualifying offer from their previous team. Those players can negotiate with other teams, but their original team can match any offer.
A Core Designation is the WNBA’s version of a franchise tag. An organization can have one veteran free agent whom they have cored on their roster — and thus offered a fully guaranteed one-year deal worth the supermax. If a player receives a Core Designation, they can only sign or negotiate a contract with that team during the free agency period.
April 13: Free agent signings continue
Kayla Thornton has signed a one-year deal with the Golden State Valkyries, per team.
Nalyssa Smith has re-signed with the Las Vegas Aces, per team.
April 12: The busiest day yet!
Sophie Cunningham has re-signed with the Indiana Fever, per ESPN’s Alexa Phillippou
Kelsey Plum has re-signed with the Los Angeles Sparks on a one-year deal, per ESPN’s Shams Charania
Isabelle Harrison has signed a one-year deal with the Toronto Tempo, per ESPN’s Andraya Carter
Gabby Williams has signed a multi-year deal with the Golden State Valkyries, per ESPN’s Andraya Carter
The Los Angeles Sparks have traded Ariel Atkins to the Chicago Sky in exchange for Ariel Atkins, per ESPN’s Alexa Phillippou
Courtney Williams has signed a two-year deal with the Minnesota Lynx, per ESPN’s Alexa Phillipou
The Valkyries have resigned Illiana Rupert and Janelle Salaun to multiyear deals, per team
The Chicago Sky have re-signed Courtney Vandersloot
The Seattle Storm have re-signed Ezi Magbegor
Kayla McBride has signed a two-year contract with the Minnesota Lynx, per ESPN’s Ramona Shelbourne
Natasha Howard has signed a two-year contract with the Minnesota Lynx, per ESPN’s Ramona Shelbourne
Nia Coffey has signed a two-year deal with the Minnesota Lynx, per ESPN’s Kendra Andrews
DiJonai Carrington has signed a one-year deal with the Chicago Sky, per ESPN’s Alexa Phillippou
Megan Gustafson is signing a two-year deal with the Portland Fire, per ESPN’s Alexa Phillippou
Jade Melbourne is signing a one-year deal to return to the Seattle Storm, per ESPN’s Alexa Phillippou
April 11: More official signings
Azurá Stevens has agreed to a three-year deal to return to the Chicago Sky, per ESPN’s Alexa Phillippou
Laura Juškaitė has signed a training camp contract with the Toronto Tempo
Lexie Hull is re-signing with the Indiana Fever
The Chicago Sky have acquired guard Jacy Sheldon from the Washington Mystics. In exchange, the Mystics receive Chicago’s 2028 first-round pick.
Dearica Hamby is returning to the Los Angeles Sparks on a three-year, nearly $3.5 million deal, per ESPN’s Alexa Phillippou
Monique Billings is signing with the Indiana Fever, per Tony East
Satou Sabally has signed with the New York Liberty, per ESPN’s Alexa Phillippou
Skylar Diggins has signed a two-year deal with the Chicago Sky, the team announced
Jonquel Jones is re-signing with the New York Liberty, per the NY Posts’s Madeline Kenney
Veronica Burton has signed a multi-year deal with the Golden State Valkyries, the team announced
Bridge Carleton has signed a three-year max deal with the Portland Fire, per ESPN’s Alexa Phillippou
Ty Harris has signed with the Indiana Fever, per Chloe Peterson of Indy Star Sports
Kennedy Burke has agreed to a one-year deal with the Connecticut Sun, per ESPN’s Alexa Phillippou
Stefanie Dolson is signing with the Seattle Storm, per Khristina Williams
Cheyenne Parker-Tyus is re-signing with the Las Vegas Aces, per Callie Fin of the Las Vegas Review-Journal
Nyadiew Puoch has signed her rookie-scale contract with the Portland Fire, per ESPN’s Alexa Phillippou
Alanna Smith has signed a three-year, max contract with the Dallas Wings, per ESPN’s Alexa Phillippou
Kahleah Copper has re-signed with the Phoenix Mercury, per team
Eliska Hamzova and Emma Cechova have signed with the Lynx, per ESPN’s Kareem Copeland.
Michael Onyenwere has signed a multi-year deal with the Washington Mystics, per ESPN’s Chiney Ogwumike
Sami Whitcomb has signed a two-year deal with the Phoenix Mercury, per ESPN’s Chiney Ogwumike
Emma Cannon has signed a minimum deal with the Los Angeles Sparks, per ESPN’s Alexa Phillippou
April 10: Free Agency transactions are beginning
Marina Mabrey and Brittney Sykes have each agreed to max contracts with the Toronto Tempo, per ESPN’s Alexa Phillippou
Nneka Ogwumike agrees to sign with the Los Angeles Sparks, per her sister, ESPN analyst Chiney Ogwumike
Brionna Jones agrees to finalize a deal to return to the Atlanta Dream, per ESPN’s Sean Hurd.
Alyssa Thomas agrees to finalize a deal to return to the Phoenix Mercury, per ESPN’s Sean Hurd
Allisha Gray is finalizing a three-year deal to return to the Atlanta Dream, per ESPN’s Sean Hurd
Jewell Loyd is finalizing a three-year deal to return to the Las Vegas Aces, per ESPN’s Alexa Philippou
Naz Hillmon is finalizing a three-year deal to return to the Atlanta Dream, per ESPN’s Kendra Andrews
Arike Ogunbowale is finalizing a seven-figure, multi-year deal to return to the Dallas Wings, per ESPN’s Alexa Philippou
Kelsey Mitchell is finalizing a one-year supermax deal to return to the Indiana Fever, per ESPN’s Chiney Ogwumike
Jessica Shepard is finalizing a multi-year deal to join the Dallas Wings, per ESPN’s Alexa Phillippou
Elizabeth Williams is finalizing a two-year deal with the Chicago Sky worth $1.2 million, per ESPN’s Chiney Ogwumike
Natisha Hiedeman is signing with the Seattle Storm, per Khristina Williams
Chelsea Gray has agreed to a contract worth more than $3 million over three years, per ESPN’s Kendra Andrews
Awak Kuier will re-signing with Dallas Wings, per Khristina Williams
Brittney Griner has signed a seven-figure deal to join the Connecticut Sun, per Terrika Foster-Brasby
Jordin Canada has signed a two-year, $1.2 million+ deal with the Atlanta Dream, per ESPN’s Kareem Copeland
April 9: Free Agency negotiations continue
Mamignan Toure signed with the Connecticut Sun
Kierstan Bell signed with the Las Vegas Aces
The Connecticut Sun traded Rayah Marshal to the Dallas Wings for Diamond Miller
Jackie Young reportedly agrees to sign a one-year deal with the Las Vegas Aces at the regular max ($1.19 million), per ESPN’s Alexa Philippou
April 8: Negotiations begin
Maya Caldwell signed with the Portland Fire
Sika Kone signed with the Atlanta Dream
Jaylyn Sherrod signed with the Minnesota Lynx
Grace Berger signed with the Dallas Wings
Li Yueru signed with the Dallas Wings
April 7: Angel Reese traded, teams extend qualifying offers
The Chicago Sky traded Angel Reese to the Atlanta Dream in exchange for the Dream’s first-round picks in 2027 and 2028. As part of the trade, Atlanta also receives the right to swap second-round picks with Chicago in 2028.
The Atlanta Dream extended a Reserved qualifying offer to Sika Koné.
The Portland Fire extended a Core qualifying offer to Bridget Carleton
The Washington Mystics extended a Reserved qualifying offer to Bernadett Határ.
The Portland Fire extended a Reserved qualifying offer to Haley Jones.
The Minnesota Lynx extended a Core qualifying offer to Napheesa Collier.
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