NWSL Signs First College Player Since Abolishing Draft

University of Texas forward Trinity Byars signed with the San Diego Wave, the club announced Thursday. What would normally be a routine line on the transaction wire marked a historic moment: Byars is the first player to choose her pro team directly out of the college system without a draft in the way.

The NWSL and its players’ union agreed to a new collective bargaining agreement in August that abolished its draft, making all amateur players true free agents.

In addition to scrapping entry and expansion drafts, the new CBA banned trades without player consent, added charter flights, increased player salaries, guaranteed all contracts, made all current players free agents at the end of their contracts, and introduced revenue sharing. The current average salary of $56,000 will land roughly between $135,000 and $159,000 next season, and grow both with the introduction of revenue sharing and as the deal progresses. Parts of the deal—which runs through 2030—began July 11, while the rest kicks in Jan. 1, 2025.

In August, NWSL Players Association president Tori Huster told Front Office Sports that taking away the draft removes some of “the anxiety that comes along with not knowing where you’re going to land.”

NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman said in August that removing drafts helps the league “align with global standards and achieve long-term labor peace.” The 2026 expansion team in Boston—which botched its brand rollout so badly the club had to issue an apology—will be allowed to sign only free agents. Those discussions can begin six months before their existing deal ends.

Byars was named the Big 12’s Offensive Player of the Year in 2022 and Forward of the Year in 2023, but she has missed most of her senior season due to a knee injury on Sept. 1. The Wave said the club signed her before the Oct. 10 “roster freeze” kicked in. Her deal runs through the 2026 season with a mutual option to extend through 2027. Wave players including Byars will report in January to San Diego, where the club expects she’ll spend another roughly five months rehabbing her torn ACL, ESPN reported.

It’s been a busy year for the Wave. Owners approved the sale of the team to new owners in March. The sale price of $113 million (up to $120 million) nearly doubled the league’s previous high of $63 million. (The Wave’s record was more than doubled a few months later by Bob Iger and Willow Bay’s purchase of Angel City FC.) In July, former employees publicly accused the club and team president Jill Ellis of a toxic workplace culture, after a third-party investigation in the spring found no violations of the law or league policy. Ellis responded by suing one former employee for defamation. In September, U.S. soccer legend and Wave forward Alex Morgan announced her retirement and played her final professional match for the team.