WNBA teams are less than a month away from starting the 2025 offseason negotiating period. This means the Liberty are approaching another important offseason for the franchise. The championship window is wide open.
The 2025 offseason is expected to be less eventful than 2024, when three starting pitchers entered the winter as unrestricted free agents.
This time around, we have two unrestricted free agents who finished the regular season as starters. General manager Jonathan Kolb and the front office can begin negotiations with free agents starting Jan. 21. Teams can sign contracts with these players starting February 1.
Let’s take a look at Liberty free agents this offseason.
Brianna Stewart
Here we come again.
Liberty and Stewart enter the 2025 offseason in the same position as last year. It’s more likely they’ll reunite next season once their one-year contracts with both sides end.
In 2024 Kolb took on Stewart’s key designations following his MVP season.This kept stars off the open market and gave franchises exclusive negotiating rights. A few weeks later, the two sides agreed to a one-year contract. The same thing could happen in 2025. However, if Stewart becomes part of the core again, she will no longer be part of the core for the rest of her career. Under WNBA rules, if a player has played for at least two seasons under a contract signed during coring, he or she cannot be re-cored.
The Liberty could also re-sign the 2024 All-WNBA First Team selection without using the designation while they are free to negotiate with other teams. However, it is unlikely that Stewart will not play with the Liberty again, given the team’s championship run, the team’s presence in the New York market, and her own willingness to remain in the squad.
“I’m excited about what I’m doing with Liberty here in New York,” Stewart said before joining the core after the 2023 season. “It’s truly amazing to be a part of this work and I look forward to doing it for many years to come.”
The biggest question is the timing of Stewart’s upcoming trade. Players could earn unprecedented salaries as unrestricted free agents in 2026, when the league and its franchises will pour in new money under possible new CBAs and media rights deals.
Courtney Vandersloot
Vandersloot became a starter at the end of the 2024 regular season. However, he lost his role in the postseason. After Sandy Brondello replaced her with Leonie Fiebich in Game 1 of their first-round series against the Atlanta Dream.
Vandersloot, who will turn 36 when the 2025 WNBA season begins, has not yet signaled the end of her career. And her upcoming debut in the new 3v3 league Unrivaled shows that retirement may not come anytime soon.
However, considering her reduced role and age, a reunion with Liberty could be done as a short-term deal at a cheaper price.
She decided to make such a deal when joining forces with Stewart in New York prior to the 2024 WNBA season, so a pay cut isn’t too far-fetched for the future Hall of Famer.
Kennedy Burke
The need for Burke increased immediately after World War II. Liberty lost Kayla Thornton. Switched to Golden State Valkyries in December’s expansion draft.
Burke, who is averaging just 3.4 points in 12.1 minutes per game, could assume a higher role with sixth woman Thornton out of the rotation.
But Burke could be as coveted on the open market as Thornton was in the expansion draft.
reserve player
Fan favorites Jaylyn Sherrod and Ivana Djokic are both exclusive free agents or reserve players. Players with this designation will receive qualifying offers and can only negotiate with their current team.
The pair could return to the sea floor to finish the bench unit in 2025.
