The WNBA, along with Cathy Engelbert, is in some deep waters at the moment. Initially, the CBA deadline was supposed to expire on October 31st. However, the WNBA proposed a 30-day extension to the existing deadline.
Unfortunately, with the next set of deadlines almost coming to an end, things are looking extremely grim. For one, most of the players are unwilling to continue with Engelbert as the WNBA commissioner.
Next up, the WNBPA has outright rejected the $1.1 million max-salary offer from the WNBA. And according to analyst Annie Costabile, the WNBPA has taken the right decision.
Annie Costabile Terms Cathy Engelbert’s Recent Offer As ‘Misleading’
As per the latest reports from Doug Feinberg, the WNBA proposed a max-salary contract of $1.1 million. According to the proposal, the league would entitle more than one player per team to a maximum salary of $1.1 million.
However, in a recent statement, Front Office Sports’ Costabile points out that the figure is pretty much misleading. “Multiple sources familiar with the league’s labor negotiations said that the numbers are misleading. While salaries can reach a maximum of more than $1.1 million in the league’s offer, the base supermax contract would still pay between $800,000 and $850,000 annually – as was the case in early October,” Costabile noted.
Analyst reveals truth behind WNBA’s record-breaking $1.1 million max-salary offer! https://t.co/pM1xbSjfmS
— Debmallya Chakraborty (@DebmallyaC93340) November 22, 2025
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She further broke down the scenario in simple words. According to Costabile, none of the players in the 2026 season can have a base salary of $1.1 million. Instead, the figure is a combination of both the base salary and revenue sharing. Surely, such a revelation further deepened the rift between the players and Engelbert.
However, despite many critics targeting Engelbert, Lexie Brown believes others share the blame as well.
Lexie Brown Feels Cathy Engelbert Alone Is Not Responsible For WNBA’s Woes
Engelbert has been receiving some significant backlash right from the word go. It all started with the Minnesota Lynx’s star, Napheesa Collier, calling Engelbert out for her lack of accountability.
However, while since then, a lot of players have held the WNBA commissioner responsible since then, Brown is of the opinion that she alone doesn’t hold all the aces.
“I feel like people have been really hard on Cathy [Engelbert]—as they should be—but she works for the owners. Everyone needs to be looking at the owners and [ask], ‘What are y’all talking about in these meetings? Who’s for the players and who’s for themselves?’ That’s the questions that need to be asked. It’s not all on Cathy. She’s just the face of it,” said Brown in a recent episode of the ‘Good Follow with Ros Gold-Onwude.’
Thus, with the WNBA–CBA negotiations going nowhere, it’s for time to tell whether the two parties can eventually reach a conclusion in the future.