2022 Free Agency List
Sat, Jan 15, 2022, 1:58 PM

With a new year underway, WNBA Free Agency is once again upon us. The following is a list of Unrestricted Free Agents, Restricted Free Agents, Reserved Players and Core Players. Teams can begin to negotiate with their own Reserved Players and any Restricted and Unrestricted Free Agents on January 15. As of February 1, teams and players can finalize deals and sign contracts and offer sheets.
- Players with fewer than five years of service who do not receive Qualifying Offers become Unrestricted Free Agents. Players with five or more years of service will become Unrestricted Free Agents. An Unrestricted Free Agent is free to sign with any team provided that they are not designated as a Core Player by their prior team.
- Players with fewer than five years of service who do not receive Qualifying Offers become Unrestricted Free Agents. Players with five or more years of service will become Unrestricted Free Agents. An Unrestricted Free Agent is free to sign with any team provided that they are not designated as a Core Player by their prior team.
- The Core designation gives a team exclusive negotiating rights with a player. Starting in 2022, a player is not eligible to be given a Core designation if they have played pursuant to a Core player contract for two or more seasons.
- Players with four years of service can receive Qualifying Offers to become Restricted Free Agents. Restricted free agency gives the player’s prior team the right to sign the player by matching a contract offer from another team (Right of First Refusal). If the player signs an Offer Sheet with another team, the player’s prior team has four days from the date it receives the Offer Sheet to determine whether it wishes to match. If the offer is matched, the player will remain with their prior team. If the offer is not matched within the four-day period, the player will be under contract with the offering team.
- Players with three or fewer years of service can receive Qualifying Offers to become Reserved Players. The Reserved Player’s prior team has exclusive negotiating rights.