NWSL offseason: Ranking the 10 best free-agents available
4. Crystal Dunn
We all know what Crystal Dunn's opinion is on free agency. She let the entire world know at the NWSL Skills Challenge ahead of the Championship. Out of contract with the 2022 NWSL champion Portland Thorns, the USWNT winger confirmed she is changing environments for 2024. In an Instagram post earlier this month, Dunn stated, "This decision has weighed heavily on me for a while, but I am ready for a new journey.” Once the club fired her husband in January, it seemed almost a guarantee that 2023 was her final season in Oregon.
She has never once had a say in which NWSL franchise she wanted to play for in her career. Now is her chance. In her first full campaign since giving birth, Dunn was one of 21 players in the entire league with at least seven goal contributions. It is not just the threat she poses in an advanced role on the pitch. The USWNT star is a leader, and someone who has been there, done that more than once in the NWSL. Let the Dunn sweepstakes begin.
Former #BAONPDX ‘s Crystal Dunn recently announced she was leaving the Thorns in free agency.
— Kamran Nia (@kamran_nia) November 11, 2023
She said she is looking for a job at the #NWSL Skills Challenge today: pic.twitter.com/GNyaug4Wgl
3. Emily Sonnett
For the majority of her career since being drafted No. 1 overall, Emily Sonnett was a defender. Laura Harvey made the bold decision to move slightly higher up the pitch. Though it was a lot more running as Sonnett has been credited to saying, her transition into the No. 6 position helped not only her club, but her country at the World Cup.
The USWNT midfielder/defender was a workhorse this past season, finishing behind only Lauren Barnes for most minutes on OL Reign. "Saucy Sonnett" was one of two players on the Reign with an over 80 percent pass accuracy on at least 500 attempts across all competitions. Everybody needs a backbone. A vocal leader. A standard-setter. Sonnett can be that and much more.