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This story has been updated to reflect the full details of the trade.
United States international and all-time National Women’s Soccer League leading scorer Lynn Williams has been traded from NJ/NY Gotham FC to Seattle Reign FC, multiple sources tell The Equalizer’s Dan Lauletta. Additionally, goalkeeper Cassie Miller will join Seattle as part of the completed trade while midfielder Jaelin Howell will join Gotham FC. The NJ/NY club will also receive an undisclosed transfer fee.
Williams played for NJ/NY Gotham FC for two seasons, helping the team win its first NWSL Championship in 2023. She is a four-time NWSL champion and the league’s all-time leading scorer in all competitions with 80 goals.
Williams, 31, has 21 goals in 75 career appearances for the United States. She was part of the U.S. team that won an Olympic gold medal in August. She also has an Olympic bronze medal from the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, and she was on the U.S.’ roster for the 2023 World Cup.
She scored the game-winning goal in the United States’ final game of 2024, a 2-1 win over the Netherlands on Dec. 3.
Williams was selected by the Western New York Flash as the No. 6 overall draft pick in 2015. She helped the team win the NWSL Championship in 2016 and stayed with the franchise upon its relocation to become the North Carolina Courage, which dominated the NWSL and won both the NWSL Shield and NWSL Championship in 2018 and 2019. Williams, and the franchise (across two different names), appeared in four straight NWSL Championships from 2016-2019.
Williams was traded to the Kansas City Current in January 2022 but missed the entire season after sustaining a major hamstring injury in the preseason NWSL Challenge Cup. She was then traded from Kansas City to Gotham FC on draft day in 2023.
Miller also joined Gotham via trade from Kansas City, in 2024 the goalkeeper was exchanged for $70,000 in allocation money and a $30,000 intra-league transfer fee. The now 29-year-old began the 2024 season as Gotham’s starter in net but lost the spot midway through the season when German keeper Ann Katrin Berger joined the club.
The trade has Howell set to join her third NWSL club in five months. The former Mac Hermann Trophy winner was traded to Seattle from Racing Louisville over the summer for $50,000 and Bethany Balcer. The 25-year-old midfielder played eight matches for the Reign, starting five, but struggled to find her footing so quickly on a new team.
Now Howell will look to reach her potential on yet another new team. While lauded for her leadership in Louisville while serving as captain throughout her tenure there, the 2022 No. 2 overall draft pick has yet to consistently perform at the level expected based on her standout college career.
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