WNBA free agency depends on a player’s contract status and years of service: those determine which teams may negotiate, whether a former team can match an offer, or whether that team has exclusive negotiating rights. For the 2026 cycle, teams made designations and qualifying offers April 6–7, negotiations ran April 8–10, and players could begin signing April 11. Those dates have passed and do not establish the calendar for 2027.
What happened during the 2026 free-agency calendar?
The WNBA and WNBPA announced the 2026 dates on April 5. The window had three stages:
| Phase | 2026 date | What happened |
|---|---|---|
| Designation Period | April 6–7 | Teams sent qualifying offers and made Core Player designations. |
| Negotiation Period | April 8–10 | Teams and players negotiated contracts. |
| Signings could commence | April 11 | Players could sign new contracts. |
The schedule describes the completed 2026 cycle only. The annual calendar can change, so these dates should not be carried forward to another offseason.
How do the four free-agent statuses differ?
The key distinction is who controls the negotiations and, for a restricted free agent, whether the previous team can match a competing offer. The WNBA’s 2026 explainer describes four statuses:
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| Status | How it applies | Who controls negotiations? | Outside offer and former-team rights |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unrestricted free agent (UFA) | A player eligible to negotiate as unrestricted under the league’s rules. | The player may negotiate with any team. | The former team has no RFA matching right simply because the player previously played there. |
| Restricted free agent (RFA) | A player whose contract ends with four years of WNBA service may receive a restricted qualifying offer. | The player may negotiate with another team, subject to the former team’s right of first refusal. | The player may agree to a multi-year offer sheet. The former team may match it; if it does, the player signs with that team on the offer-sheet terms. Without a qualifying offer from the former club, the player is unrestricted. |
| Reserved player | An out-of-contract player with three years of service or fewer becomes reserved if the former team extends a reserved qualifying offer. | The former team has exclusive negotiating rights. | If the club declines to offer a contract, the player becomes unrestricted. |
| Core player | A player receiving a Core designation and Core Qualifying Offer. | Only the designating team may negotiate or sign the player during free agency. | The offer is fully guaranteed for one year at the supermax. The team and player may still negotiate a sign-and-trade if both want the player to move. |
What is a Core player in the WNBA?
Core is a retention mechanism, not a general label for a star or a description of a player’s usual contract. For the 2026 cycle, the designation restricted free-agency negotiations and signing to the team that made it, under the Core Qualifying Offer terms shown above. A club may have no more than one veteran free agent it has cored on its roster at a time, according to the WNBA explainer.
The CBA announcement adds a later change: starting in 2027, a player with seven or more years of service cannot be designated Core. That restriction does not apply retroactively to the 2026 cycle.
How does a restricted offer get matched?
An RFA can negotiate a multi-year offer sheet with another team. The former team then has a right of first refusal: it can match the offer, and the player signs with the former team on those offer-sheet terms. This is different from a UFA, whose former team does not get a matching right solely because of the player’s past tenure.
Do not assume every reported offer or contract has the same term, guarantee, or cap treatment. The WNBA’s explainer establishes the multi-year offer-sheet rule for RFAs and the fully guaranteed one-year Core offer; details for other contracts require the relevant team announcement or applicable CBA terms.
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What did the new CBA and 2026 salary cap mean?
The seven-year collective bargaining agreement began with the 2026 season and runs through 2032. The full long-form CBA was signed May 22, 2026. In its March 20 announcement, the WNBA and WNBPA set the 2026 salary cap at $7.0 million, compared with $1.5 million in 2025.
The same joint announcement projected a $1.4 million maximum salary for 2026, an average salary of $583,000, and minimum salaries from $270,000 to $300,000 depending on years of service. These are league-and-union-announced 2026 projections, not proof that every player earned those amounts or that a particular free agent signed for a given figure. The announcement also gave projections for later years; those should likewise be treated as projections rather than realized salaries.
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The cap figure is useful context for understanding the league’s overall spending framework, but it does not by itself explain an individual contract’s cap charge, qualifying-offer calculation, or protection terms. Those mechanics are not established by the broad official explanations summarized here.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How should you read a WNBA free-agent move?
When comparing players or interpreting an offseason announcement, check the elements in this order:
- Status: Is the player unrestricted, restricted, reserved, or designated Core?
- Service and team action: What years of WNBA service are relevant, and did the former team make the qualifying offer or designation that applies?
- Negotiating control: Can the player talk to any team, negotiate elsewhere subject to a matching right, or negotiate exclusively with the former team?
- Offer mechanics: Is there a confirmed offer length, guarantee, matching right, or sign-and-trade? Do not infer unannounced terms.
- Cap context: Separate the league’s announced cap and salary projections from the terms of a specific player’s signed contract.
This framework explains why two players whose contracts expire in the same offseason may have very different choices: their service time and the former club’s action can change who gets to negotiate and whether another team’s offer can be matched.
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