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WNBA free agency depends on a player’s contract status and years of service: those determine which teams may negotiate with her, whether her former team can match an offer, or whether that team has exclusive negotiating rights. The 2026 window has passed; its designation period was April 6–7, negotiations ran April 8–10, and teams could begin signing players April 11.
How the 2026 free-agency calendar worked
The WNBA and WNBPA announced the 2026 dates jointly on April 5, 2026. The sequence separated team designations and qualifying offers from negotiations and signings.
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| Phase | 2026 date | What happened |
|---|---|---|
| Designation Period | April 6–7 | Teams sent qualifying offers and made Core Player designations. |
| Negotiation Period | April 8–10 | Players and teams negotiated contracts. |
| Signings could commence | April 11 | New contracts could be signed. |
These were the dates for the 2026 cycle, not a standing calendar for future seasons. Annual dates can change.
What each free-agent status means
A player’s status determines who controls negotiations and whether her former team has a right to retain her. The WNBA’s 2026 explainer distinguishes four categories:
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| Status | Who can negotiate? | Former team’s rights |
|---|---|---|
| Unrestricted free agent (UFA) | Any team. | No RFA matching right solely because the player previously played for that team. |
| Restricted free agent (RFA) | The player can negotiate a multi-year offer sheet with another team. | The former team may match the offer sheet; if it does, the player signs with that team on those terms. |
| Reserved player | The former team has exclusive negotiating rights if it made a reserved qualifying offer. | If it declines to offer a contract, the player becomes unrestricted. |
| Core player | Only the team that designated her may negotiate or sign her during the free-agency period. | The designation is a retention mechanism; the parties may agree to a sign-and-trade. |
Unrestricted free agents
A UFA is free to negotiate with any team during the free-agency period. Her old team has no right to match another team’s offer merely because she played there before.
Restricted free agents
Under the WNBA’s 2026 explainer, a player whose contract expires with four years of WNBA service may receive a restricted qualifying offer. If her prior club does not make a qualifying offer, she is unrestricted instead. When another team and an RFA agree to a multi-year offer sheet, the former team can match it; a match sends the player back to that team on the offer-sheet terms.
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Reserved players
A player with three or fewer years of service whose contract has expired becomes reserved if her former team extends a reserved qualifying offer. That offer gives the former team exclusive negotiating rights. If the team declines to offer a contract, she becomes a UFA.
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A Core designation restricts the player to negotiating and signing with the designating team during free agency. The WNBA describes the Core Qualifying Offer as a fully guaranteed one-year offer at the supermax. The player and team can still negotiate a sign-and-trade if both agree to move her. Under the league’s 2026 explainer, a team may have no more than one veteran free agent it has cored on its roster at a time.
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The WNBA and WNBPA announced an additional restriction for 2027 onward: players with seven or more years of service cannot be designated Core. That rule does not apply retroactively to the 2026 free-agency cycle.
How the 2026 salary cap fits in
The seven-year collective bargaining agreement began with the 2026 season and runs through 2032; the full agreement was signed May 22, 2026. The league and union’s March 20 announcement set the 2026 salary cap at $7.0 million, up from $1.5 million in 2025.
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The same March announcement projected a $1.4 million maximum salary for 2026, a $583,000 average salary, and minimum salaries ranging from $270,000 to $300,000 depending on service time. These are league- and union-announced projections, not a statement that every player received those amounts or that the projected average was an individual contract value.
The cap is useful context when comparing offseason contracts, but these published figures do not explain every cap-accounting rule or the charge assigned to a particular contract. A player’s status and the terms actually announced for her deal remain important alongside the headline cap and salary projections.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to read a free-agency move
When a team announces a signing, designation, or outside offer, use this order to understand what it means:
- Identify the player’s status. Determine whether she is unrestricted, restricted, reserved, or cored.
- Check service time and the former team’s action. For restricted and reserved players, whether the former team made the relevant qualifying offer affects the player’s status and the team’s rights.
- Ask who controls negotiations. A UFA can talk to any team; a reserved player with an offer and a Core player face exclusive negotiating limits, while an RFA can negotiate elsewhere subject to a match right.
- Read the confirmed contract terms. Do not infer length, guarantee, or salary for a category from the status alone. The explainer specifically identifies multi-year RFA offer sheets and the fully guaranteed one-year Core offer; other terms require the specific contract announcement or operative CBA text.
- Keep roster rules separate from contract status. The WNBA’s 2026 explainer says teams have 12 standard roster spots plus two developmental players. If a team is below 12 standard players during the regular season, it has 72 hours from the roster move to fill out the roster, subject to certain league exceptions.
What changes in future seasons
The 2026 dates and the rules described here are a season-specific explanation, not a promise that a later free-agency period will use the same calendar or terms. The seven-year CBA runs through 2032, but league calendars are annual, and the Core eligibility change for players with seven or more service years starts in 2027. For a later season, consult the WNBA’s current free-agency explainer and that season’s official date announcement.
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