The Golden State Valkyries began free agency with three players under contract: Kate Martin, Kayla Thornton, and Stephanie Talbot. As of Wednesday January 15, the team has made a total of four offers to players already on the team's roster.
According to the WNBA transactions page, the Valkyries made a restricted qualifying offer to Temi Fagbenle and reserved qualifying offers to Julie Vanloo, Veronica Burton, and Cecilia Zandalasini.
These offers aren't exactly surprises: they're necessary if the team wants to keep the players on the roster in the first place. Making the offers is only a winning scenario for the Valkyries, both in terms of cap space (there is still plenty) and maintaining the bulk of the roster the team drafted in December's Expansion Draft.
Reserved vs. Restricted qualifying offers in the WNBA
If accepted, the reserved offers also mean Vanloo, Burton, and Zandalasini can now only negotiate with the Valkyries — other teams are out whether or not the players accept the offer. If an agreement isn't met, the Valkyries will retain the rights to each player until they are traded or negotiated away. The team offered Vanloo $66,079 due to her one year of experience in the league, and offered Burton and Zandalasinit the veteran minimum $78,831.
The restricted offer is a little more nuanced. Fagbenle will retain the right to negotiate with other teams, and if she receives an outside offer the Valkyries will have to meet and/or exceed it to keep her. The Valkyries could also potentially negotiate a brand new contract with Fagbenle if that serves both parties. The team also offered Fagbenle the veteran minimum of $78,831 for a one-year contract before the new CBA is negotiated.
The four offers means that the Valkyries have three players left on the market as free agents: Monique Billings, María Conde, and Iliana Rupert. Both Conde and Rupert have suspended WNBA contracts, so the Valkyries don't have to do anything to keep their rights — their spots on the team are intact, but that doesn't mean either will play this season (and Conde is likely to miss the entirety of the 2025 season anyway due to a recent injury).
WIll the Golden State Valkyries core Monique Billings?
Billings, however, presents a unique situation for the team. The Valkyries could opt to core Billings, which would automatically mean she'd be eligible for the league's supermax contract, but it's not clear that option makes the most sense for the team's front office.
If Billings does not receive a core offer, she has the ability to negotiate with any team in the league. Choosing the draft Billings during the Expansion Draft appeared to indicate the team had an interesting in coring her (because otherwise they could have just approached her during free agency), but her record (Billings was cut before last season began and has only started 58 games in six years) might work against her. If the front office is having any misgivings or feeling hesitant, now is the time to make a decision.