Angel City FC acquire draft pick in trade with OL Reign

It’s not one of the headlining moves as 2022 NWSL expansion team Angel City FC construct their inaugural roster, but another trade involving the club was announced on Monday, in which they acquired the No. 36 overall (3rd round) selection in the upcoming 2022 NWSL Draft from OL Reign, in exchange for $25,000 in allocation money and a promise from ACFC they won’t select any of OL Reign’s forwards in the upcoming NWSL expansion draft.

Yeah, it’s a new kind of trade. We’ve seen deals where teams agree not to select players in the expansion draft from a given club at all, or even this year, where allocated U.S. internationals won’t be selected, something ACFC has agreed to with the Washington Spirit in a separate trade on Monday. But this one, not taking a player from a given position group, is a new one. What is a forward? Who decides who is a forward? What if OL Reign just classify all their players as forwards in a workaround?

But seriously, I assume behind the scenes the teams have named the player(s) Angel City wanted and OL Reign don’t want to be taken in the expansion draft, and they’re on the same page. Then again, this is the NWSL, who knows what will happen, really. But Angel City have a new draft pick to use next week in the college draft and we’ll see what happens with it.

What do you think? Leave a comment below.