Liberty's Breanna Stewart Makes Bold Declaration on WNBA Free-Agency Plans

In each of the last three offseasons, Liberty star Breanna Stewart has made the same decision when it comes to her WNBA contract: She has opted for a one-year deal worth as much as her team can give her. That was $205,000 from New York last year, the second such contract she wigned with the Liberty after leaving Seattle.

Stewart certainly could lock herself in on a long-term deal if she wanted. She remains, at age 30, among the Top 3 or 4 best players in the league, coming off a year in which she averaged 20.4 points and 8.5 rebounds , and has the Liberty in the WNBA Finals against Minnesota, the series deadlocked after two games.

But she foresees a much bigger payday ahead, and has consistently rejected the idea of a long-term contract to instead focus on maximizing her income each year. It's a bold approach for someone who has had a major injury (Stewart tore his Achilles tendon in 2019) in her recent past.

Stewart effectively sacrifices stability in hopes that she can stay healthy year-in and year-out.

“I am under a one-year, and I’m going to sign another one-year (in 2025)," Stewart said, via USA Today's Megan Hall. "Just so I can continue to have that kind of flexibility going forward. It’s kind of hard to tell, because you don’t know obviously if we opt in or opt out, but with the potential from the new TV deal — how does everything play into effect? How long are things going to be lasting?

"But I don’t mind the one-years. I’m going to burn my core.”

"Core" refers to the "core designation," which is effectively like a franchise tag. It would mean Stewart can't go into free agency, but it would force the Liberty to pay her the supermax salary for the league.

Stewart's big bet on taking one-year deals, at least at this point, is based on the future revenues that should be coming in under the WNBA's new 11-year, $2.2 billion media rights deal. It's still uncertain when, exacatly, new contract will be allowed to be negotiated under that increased wage scale, but it could happen as soon as after the 2025 season.

As Stewart said back in July, when speaking on the new media deal, "Salaries are going to go up, player benefits are going to go up hopefully, benefits for families, working moms are going to get better. And then pension, I think that's something that we need to start dissecting a little bit. But now, the investment is there."

Related: Breanna Stewart Has One Wish For Paige Bueckers, UConn Ahead Of 2024 Season