Sources: WNBA’s new CBA expedites ability to land max deals

Sources told ESPN that the pending WNBA collective bargaining agreement will fast-track the ability to make maximum and supermax salaries for players on rookie-level contracts.

The new provision, called “EPIC”, allows players to renegotiate their fourth-year salary and earn the standard maximum that year if they have previously been named to the All-WNBA first team or second team, or the supermax if they have previously won MVP.

For example, 2024 Rookie of the Year Caitlin Clark — who earned $78,066 in 2025 — is expected to see his salary rise to $530,000 in 2026, a source said. She could make a projected maximum of $1.3 million in 2027 as a previous All-WNBA player. After this, she can sign for a supermax of $1.7 million in 2028.

The new provision will also apply to young star players aliyah bostonwho was All-WNBA in 2024 and is maximum eligible in 2026, and Paige BueckersWho was All-WNBA in 2025 and is max eligible in 2028.

In the previous agreement, a player could earn a supermax salary only after the completion of a four-year rookie-scale contract.

The league and the players union reached a verbal agreement on the terms of the new CBA early Wednesday. Under the new CBA, sources told ESPN, the salary cap will start at $7 million (up from $1.5 million in 2025), while the supermax will start at $1.4 million (up from $249,244 in 2025).

The average salary will be about $583,000 ($120,000 in 2025), while the minimum salary has five tiers based on years of service, ranging from $270,000 to $300,000 ($66,079 in 2025), sources told ESPN, confirming a report from Front Office Sports.

Few other details of the new CBA terms have emerged.

Sources have confirmed earlier reports that starting in 2027, only players with six or less years of service can be drafted into the corps. The core, which is the WNBA’s equivalent of the NFL’s franchise tag, was something the players sought to eliminate entirely during these negotiations.

Housing will also be provided for all players for the first three years of the deal; After that, it will be made available only to those earning $500,000 or less for 2029 and 2030. After 2030, housing will be provided only to developmental players.

Housing emerged as a flashpoint in negotiations after the league initially did not include it in its proposals. Teams have provided housing since the league’s first CBA in 1999.