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Sophia Wilson, Sarah Gorden, more NWSL free agents who should be priorities ahead of 2027
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- Sophia Wilson, Sarah Gorden, more NWSL free agents who should be priorities ahead of 2027
When Portland Thorns president of soccer operations and general manager Jeff Agoos evaluates his priorities approaching the 2027 offseason, one task rises above the rest: re-signing Sophia Wilson . Agoos made that clear in a conversation with The Athletic when NWSL free agency opened July 1.
And yet, as of mid-September, Wilson is without a contract for next season.
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Six matches remain in the Thorns' 2026 campaign, with Portland in a tight battle for one of the eight playoff spots. Free agents such as Wilson can negotiate deals with any interested teams as of this summer. The Thorns had nine free agents on their roster and have already signed three (Pietra Tordin, Renee Lyles and Jessie Fleming ) to new deals, but retaining Wilson, who became the first player to earn a seven-figure salary for a single season when the player exercised her contract option at the start of the season, is a more complex financial equation.
The NWSL discloses its annual salary cap, which is set to rise to at least $4.4 million in 2027 — up from $3.7 million in 2026 — but it does not make individual player salaries public. For example, we know Gotham extended midfielder Rose Lavelle through the 2029 season but have no specific details on how much she will be paid for the duration of the contract.
Though individual general managers know the numbers and available cap space as they look to retain pending free agents, the public doesn't have a good way of ascertaining what is and isn't possible. This is further complicated by the league's High Impact Player rule. Introduced this season in part to help the Washington Spirit re-sign 2026 free agent Trinity Rodman , the rule allows teams to pay certain high-performing players up to $1 million beyond the cap.
Whether Portland has the necessary cap space to re-sign Wilson while retaining other key players is, at best, a guessing game.
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With less than two months remaining in the 2026 regular season, The Athletic highlights four players who, like Wilson, should be the top priority for their teams to keep — no matter the available cap.
Sarah Gorden , defender, Angel City FC
Gorden has patrolled the back line for Angel City since 2023, when the defender was named to the NWSL Best XI and nominated for the NWSL Defender of the Year award. She was also honored as an NWSL Iron Woman for playing every minute of every match that year.
The 34-year-old continues to be the keystone for the Angel City defense, playing 1,900 minutes across 22 matches and producing 28 interceptions, second best on the team per FBref.com. With interim head coach Leif Smerud encouraging his left and right backs to be aggressive on offense, it often falls to Gorden and fellow central defender Emily Sams to limit the opposition's counterattack.
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And though Angel City sits midtable, its defense has been among the NWSL's stingiest all season, having conceded just 27 times in 23 matches.
Center back Savy King has recovered from her heart condition and a foot injury, giving sporting director Mark Parsons the option of pivoting away from Gorden, but no one on the squad matches Gorden's tenacity and speed in chasing down players such as Wilson on the break.
There's a reason Gorden wears the captain's armband, and Angel City can ill afford to lose her as it installs yet another new head coach to start the 2027 season after firing Alex Straus in June .
Melanie Barcenas, forward, San Diego Wave
Barcenas has a knack for generating scoring chances. Against North Carolina on Saturday, the San Diego forward picked up the ball around midfield along the right sideline and drove into the box before juking Courage defender Uno Shiragaki and slotting a left-footed shot just inside the far post.
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That goal was the match winner in the Wave's 2-1 victory, helping San Diego remain tied with Utah for third in the league table. It also was Barcenas' sixth goal this season, the second-highest total behind fellow attacker Trinity Byars. Barcenas' production has been sorely needed on a squad that lost Dudinha to a knee injury during the June international break and has seen underperformance from Ludmila .
Barcenas, 19, is having her best season yet after notching just four goal contributions in her first three seasons in San Diego. In 2023, she became the youngest player to appear in an NWSL game and now thrives under the leadership of head coach Jonas Eidevall. As a San Diego native, Barcenas is the kind of player general manager and sporting director Camille Ashton has to be looking to as a cornerstone for the Wave for years to come.
Cloé Lacasse , forward, Utah Royals
Lacasse is playing her first full season for Utah after rupturing an ACL and spraining an MCL in 2024 and missing much of 2025. The Canadian forward has been one of the biggest reasons for the Royals' surprising success this season, producing 10 assists — tied for the best mark in league history with six matches remaining.
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What is more impressive is Lacasse has generated those 10 assists from just 4.57 expected assists — a plus-5.43 differential that is the highest in the NWSL, per American Soccer Analysis. Lacasse's seven goals are second highest on the team behind Mina Tanaka .
The Royals offense has been second only to North Carolina in finding the net, with 41 goals for and a plus-11 goal differential. Lacasse has contributed to 17 of those. In the Royals' 1-0 victory over Houston on Saturday, Nuria Rábano got the assist on Tanaka's lone score, but it was Lacasse who pushed the ball out wide to Rábano, setting up the play.
Committing to 33-year-old Lacasse carries some risk, but it's tough to imagine sporting director Kelly Cousins and general manager Connor Oniki letting Lacasse walk as Utah looks to sustain some success after finishing in the league cellar in 2024 and 2025.
Ann-Katrin Berger , goalkeeper, Gotham FC
Gotham has no shortage of tough decisions to make as it evaluates its roster options for 2027 while still actively reaching for the 2026 NWSL Shield and a third NWSL Championship. President of soccer operations Yael Averbuch West has built a perennial contender by knowing which talented players she might have to let go, such as trading former Rookie of the Year Lilly Reale to Boston in mid-June.
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Midge Purce and Jess Carter are also out of contract after this season; there's a case to be made that Averbuch West should be focusing on Gotham's back line, especially with an unknown recovery timeline for defender Emily Sonnett , who ruptured a patellar tendon in late July . But with Lavelle locked in, there might be no higher priority than re-signing goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger.
Berger is solid in net, having become the first NWSL goalkeeper in history to record 10 clean sheets in back-to-back seasons. At almost 36 years old, Berger has played in 21 of Gotham's 24 matches and leads the league in save percentage (78.0) and goals allowed per 90 minutes (0.86), according to FBref.com.
But the 2024 NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year also plays other roles for Gotham. For entire stretches of matches, Berger functions as a sweeper when Purce and Guro Reiten lead forays into the opponent's penalty box. Given how comfortable she is with the ball at her feet, Berger can help launch counterattacks with a direct ball to her attackers.
More than any other position, goalkeepers can play well into their late 30s or early 40s, as Nicole Barnhart and Alyssa Naeher have made clear. If you're wondering whether Gotham could save some money by turning to backup Shelby Hogan — who is also a free agent — consider Hogan has appeared in just five matches combined across the 2025 and 2026 seasons.
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With the lack of pay transparency in the NWSL, it's tough to say Berger is a lock to be re-signed, but if Gotham were to consider letting her leave, there will be plenty of teams waiting to sign her on both sides of the Atlantic.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic .
Gotham FC, Angel City, San Diego Wave, Utah Royals FC, NWSL, women's sports
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