United States coach Emma Hayes has hailed Trinity Rodman’s historic deal to stay with the Washington Spirit as “a win” for both the U.S. women’s national team and the NWSL.
The Spirit announced the signing of the three-year contract on Thursday, ending the well-publicized uncertainty about Rodman’s future amid big-money offers from Europe.
Sources told ESPN that the deal is worth over $2 million annually, including bonuses, making her the highest-paid player in league history.
“I’m always going to celebrate milestone moments for the women’s game, and I am all about progress and investment,” Hayes told reporters Friday ahead of the USWNT’s friendly against Paraguay.
“I’ve said this many times, the women’s game, we haven’t received the same level of equity and the access to the resources to grow our game in the same way, because many, many reasons. So when I see a landmark moment like yesterday, of course, I’m happy for Trin, but I’m happy for the whole.
“It’s a monumental achievement for NWSL, it means that it’s a league that wants to retain its top talent. You can’t [only] talk about attracting, you need to retain the top talent.
“And I think it’s really fantastic for NWSL that have been able to keep Trinity Rodman, and I think knowing that she’s going to be settled and happy in Washington is going to be a win for the U.S. women’s national team, because, as I’ve always said, happiness and what they want is of the highest order to me.”
The months’-long contract saga surrounding the highly-coveted forward brought into question the salary cap limitations of the NWSL, which has seen some of its biggest American stars move to Europe through more lucrative offers.
Pushed by Rodman’s possible exit, the league created a “High Impact Player” rule that allows teams to spend more on top talent, although that also faces a hurdle after the NWSL Players Association has filed a grievance against the mechanism.
But, for Hayes, Rodman’s future being resolved can only be of benefit to the player.
“I want Trin just to be Trin the football player when she’s here, and that she can focus on being one of the team,” said the U.S. coach. “I think Trin has been clear on what she wanted … she does care [about] the impact of the game beyond herself. She does appreciate that being a role model for the sport, and she wants to do that in America, and she wants to elevate the NWSL.”
After saying earlier in the week that she has been giving the 23-year-old Rodman more responsibility in this camp, Hayes announced Friday that Rodman will captain the USWNT in Saturday’s friendly at Carson, California’s Dignity Health Sports Park.
“I spoke with Trin at the beginning of camp to tell her she’d be the captain in the first game,” she said. “We spoke about the expectations of those things in front of the group, and all the little details that we were looking for.”
As for the rest of the roster, Hayes noted that the January camp, which includes an additional friendly against Chile on Jan. 27, will be used as a testing ground before building up to qualification for the 2027 World Cup.
“We have a minimum of 17 possible players that I think will be in contention for SheBelieves [Cup in March] that are not here,” Hayes added. “Which six-to-eight players are now competing from this group to join that, beyond some of them [from the current roster] that I think that were part of that 17,18.
“With that in mind, we’ve got to give ample opportunity for any player outside of here to hear the message from me that, listen this is not set, but we do have to push forward with a core group, which SheBelieves will be about.”
During Friday’s news conference, the U.S. coach also accidentally revealed that Japan will be an upcoming opponent, with an official announcement set to be made this weekend.
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