What Is an NWSL Contract Buyout: Explained | OneFootball

It's a new age in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). One that provides many more reassurances to its players.

In 2024, the NWSL Players Association and the league agreed upon a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that would guarantee all contracts. This has fundamentally shifted the way clubs do business within the NWSL.

Previously, if a club wanted to release a player, they could do so, and they wouldn't be on the hook for the money that remained on the contract. Before, some high-profile players may have had clauses written in to avoid this, but the new CBA guaranteed contract fulfillment for all players in the league.

What is an NWSL contract buyout?

A contract buyout is when an NWSL club and player agree upon a fee to be paid upfront in order to terminate a contract with immediate effect. Buyouts can occur midseason or in the offseason.

With guaranteed contracts, the club and player must come to a financial agreement to terminate the contract. This could be the full payment of what is owed or a lesser settlement. Per league rules, NWSL clubs are only allowed to buyout one player's contract per season.

We've seen an example of this recently with Bay FC. In January, the club bought out Deyna Castellanos' contract, which had two years remaining and an option for the 2027 season, too. The total amount left on Castellanos' three-year contract was reported to be $1.1 million, but Bay could have reached a lower settlement to release the Venezuelan international.

Castellanos was able to secure the money - or some of the money - she was owed from Bay and then was able to walk away and pick a new destination of her choosing. A few days after leaving Bay, she signed a two-year deal with the Portland Thorns as a free agent.

This week, NJ/NY Gotham FC utilized its only contract buyout of the 2025 season by parting ways with Crystal Dunn. The U.S. women's national team star had two years remaining on her deal and looks to be heading to Europe rather than staying in the NWSL.

At this time, we do not know if there were any stipulations in the buyout of Dunn that required the midfielder to depart the NWSL. But it is not out of the realm of possibility for any NWSL contract buyout to have clauses and terms for players receiving their guaranteed money.

Why do clubs buyout contracts?

Buyouts give the player free agency to go and join a new club, and it removes the player's salary from the NWSL salary cap. The 2025 NWSL salary cap is $3.3 million. While club ownership ultimately will have to expense a buyout it gives the general manager and head coach more room to find a replacement.

NWSL clubs will want players who want to play for the club rather than players who are unhappy or unwanted by the head coach. Buyouts are a mechanism to give players their freedom and hold clubs accountable for contracted payments while also allowing clubs to start over.

Buyouts have been commonplace in worldwide soccer and some U.S. sports. But it's a new feature of this intriguing 2025 NWSL season.