The WNBA created a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that significantly increased wages for players across the league. For example, Indiana Fever star guard Kelsey Mitchell signed a one-year, $1.4 million supermax contract this offseason. Her total career earnings in her first eight seasons in the WNBA were only $1.12 million.
The team’s salary cap is $7 million in 2026, up from $1.5 million last season. In turn, players’ contracts are higher. Several stars became the first million-dollar signings in franchise history.
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Since the old CBA had a certain opt-out date, most players prepared for the spike in the salary cap by signing deals that would make them free agents this year. This literally allows many of them to profit from the influx of spending power across the league. For example, Mitchell is one of three players signed with a max salary of 20% of the salary cap, along with A’ja Wilson and Napheesa Collier.
But what about those players who aren’t expected to be free agents in the 2026 offseason? How have their salary prospects changed? In fact, these questions apply almost exclusively to first-year players or players signing their first contract after the 2023, 2024 or 2025 draft. The only veterans with contracts entering the free agency period are Seattle’s Lexi Brown and Phoenix’s Kalani Brown – Lexi previously agreed to a 2026 salary of $98,818, while Kalani’s 2026 salary is $98,818. $132,500. However, both numbers are below the league’s new minimum salary, so both players’ 2026 salary numbers rise to that minimum ($277,500). Kalani agreed to a contract buyout with the Phoenix Mercury this week.
All other players who are not free agents in the 2026 offseason are recently drafted, meaning their contracts are not negotiated but set by the CBA. Their wages have also increased, in some cases significantly.
How are WNBA player contracts funded?
Take Indiana Fever star guard Caitlin Clark. During seasons one and two, she earned less than $80,000 from her initial contract. In year three, she is expected to earn $85,873, with a projected salary cap hit of $1,552,300. Under the old CBA regulations, Clark’s salary was 5.5% of the salary cap.
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Now, with the new value of his rookie deal, Clark’s salary is up significantly. In 2026, her salary is $528,846 with a cap hit of $7 million. Now, the MVP candidate’s salary reaches 7.6% of the salary cap.
INDIANAPOLIS, IN – JULY 13: Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) drives to the basket against Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers (5) at Gambridge Arena on July 13, 2025 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Brian Spurlock/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Dallas Wings superstar Paige Bueckers also received the same honor. Under the old CBA, her salary in 2026 would have been $80,408, but due to new management rules, her salary will now be $500,000. Bueckers, the No. 1 pick in the 2025 WNBA draft, and Clark will make more than six times what they previously expected next season.
Rookies selected in the recent 2026 WNBA Draft enter the league with the new CBA still intact, so their contracts start at a higher value. Azzi Fudd, last week’s No. 1 pick, will have a cap hit of $500,000 in her first season with the Wings.
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Players who were drafted in the later rounds of recent drafts and previously held minimum-salary contracts have had their contracts increased to the new league minimum. Fierce forward Makayla Timpson, a second-round pick in the 2025 WNBA draft, will see her salary jump from $70,653 to $277,500 in 2026 thanks to the new CBA.
Another way for players to make more money in their first contract after being drafted is through the newly created Excellence in Initial Contract (EPIC) extension. Players who are named to the WNBA All-WNBA first or second team or are named Most Valuable Player within their first three years in the league are eligible for this type of extension, which allows them to receive a raise in the fourth season of their contract before renewing at the supermax level in year five.
The only players eligible for EPIC extensions this offseason are Clark and Fever center Aliyah Boston – Bucs will be eligible next season. Boston is the only player currently motivated to sign such a deal, though, as Clark and Bueckers could make more money by waiting and trying to win more honors.
Boston ultimately signed a three-year contract extension using the EPIC clause. She received a raise of $425,388 in 2025 and then about $5.236 million from 2027 to 2029. Her 2026 salary had already soared to $574,612 thanks to the CBA, then climbed into seven figures with her extension.
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The new salary cap system provides the best young WNBA players with more pay before they hit free agency. It also raised wages across the board. It’s a win for players who can’t negotiate new contracts on the open market, and a win for teams that can pay players more appropriately to entice them to stay as long as possible. The league’s training camp and preseason games begin this week.
This article was originally published on Forbes.com
