How Much Have Salaries Increased For WNBA Rookies And Recent Draftees?

UNCASVILLE, CT - MAY 14: Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) speaks with Indiana Fever forward Aliyah Boston (7) during a WNBA game between Indiana Fever and Connecticut Sun on May 14, 2024, at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT. (Photo by M. Anthony Nesmith/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

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The WNBA has a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), and it significantly increased player salaries around the league. Indiana Fever star guard Kelsey Mitchell, for example, signed a one year, $1.4 million supermax contract in the offseason. Her career earnings during her first eight WNBA seasons was just $1.12 million in total.

The salary cap for teams is $7 million in 2026 – it was $1.5 million last season. The player contracts are, in turn, way higher. Multiple stars have become the first million dollar signee in their franchise’s history.

Because the old CBA had a determined opt out date, most players prepared for the spike in the salary cap by signing deals that would make them a free agent this year. That allowed many of them to cash in, literally, on the influx of spending power around the league. Mitchell is, for example, one of three players to sign for the supermax at 20% of the cap, joining A’ja Wilson and Napheesa Collier.

But what about players that weren’t projected to be free agents in the 2026 offseason? How did their salary outlook change? In reality, those questions almost exclusively apply to either first-year players or players who are on their first contract after being drafted in either 2023, 2024, or 2025. The only veterans who were signed to a contract entering the free agency period were Seattle’s Lexie Brown and Phoenix’s Kalani Brown – Lexie’s previously-agreed to salary for 2026 was $98,818 while Kalani’s was $132,500. Both of those numbers are below the league’s new minimum salary, though, so both players had their 2026 salary figure bumped up to that minimum ($277,500). Kalani agreed to a contract buyout with the Phoenix Mercury this week.

Every other player who wasn’t a free agent in the 2026 offseason was a recent draftee, meaning their contract wasn’t negotiated and was instead set by the CBA. Their salaries also were bumped up, and in some cases significantly so.

How were WNBA player contracts raised?

Take Indiana Fever star guard Caitlin Clark for example. In her first and second season, she made less than $80,000 on her initial contract. In year three, she was set to make $85,873 and the salary cap was projected to land at $1,552,300. Under the old CBA, Clark’s salary would have been 5.5% of the cap.

Now, with new values for rookie deals, Clark’s salary jumps significantly. In 2026, her salary is $528,846 with a cap of $7 million. Now, the MVP candidate makes 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) on July 13, 2025, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Brian Spurlock/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

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Dallas Wings superstar Paige Bueckers earned the same bump. Her 2026 salary would have been $80,408 under the old CBA, but it will now instead be $500,000 thanks to the new governing rules. Bueckers was the top pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft, and both her and Clark are set to make more than six times more money than previously expected in the coming season.

Rookies who were drafted in the recent 2026 WNBA Draft entered the league with the new CBA intact, so their contracts start with those higher values. Azzi Fudd, the first overall pick last week, is set to have a cap hit of $500,000 during her first season with the Wings.

Players who were selected in later rounds during recent drafts and were previously on minimum-salary contracts had their deal bumped up to the new league minimum. Fever forward Makayla Timpson, a second-round pick during the 2025 WNBA Draft, saw her salary jump from $70,653 to $277,500 for 2026 thanks to the new CBA.

Another way for players on their first contract after being drafted to make more money is the newly-created Exceptional Performance on Initial Contract (EPIC) extension. Players who were named to either the All-WNBA First or Second Team, or named Most Valuable Player, within their first three years in the league are eligible for this type of extension, which permits a raise during the fourth season of their contract before an extension that begins at the supermax in year five.

The only players eligible for the EPIC extension this offseason were Clark and Fever center Aliyah Boston – Bueckers will be eligible next season. Boston is the only player who is incentivized to sign such a deal right now, though, since Clark and Bueckers could make more by waiting and trying to earn more accolades.

Boston ultimately signed a three-year contract extension using the EPIC provision. She earned a $425,388 raise in 2025, then approximately $5.236 million more from 2027 to 2029. Her 2026 salary was already bumped up to $574,612 thanks to the CBA, then climbed into the seven figures with her extension.

The new cap system gives the best young WNBA players significantly more money before they hit free agency. It also boosts salaries across the board. It’s a win for the players who weren’t able to negotiate a new deal on the open market, and a win for the teams able to pay their players a more appropriate salary to entice them to stick around as long as possible. Training camps and preseason play begin for the league this week.

This article was originally published on Forbes.com