The Washington Spirit have executed trades with both Bay FC and the Utah Royals in exchange for protection from the 2024 NWSL Expansion Draft. As part of these trades, the Spirit will send midfielder/defender Dorian Bailey to Bay FC in exchange for protection from the draft, while the Royals will receive two second-round draft picks for the same.

The draft, scheduled for this Friday at 7 p.m., would have left all but 9 current Spirit players available for selection by the two new teams. Under this year’s rules, the Bay and Royals were not limited to one draft pick per existing team, so deals with both were necessary to prevent the loss of two Spirit players.

Bailey, who was drafted by Washington in 2019, started 14 games for the team this season and played in all but 2. After spending most of her career as a midfielder, she was converted to right back in 2023 and earned 3 assists with her creative passing and strong right foot. In addition to creating chances on the field, Bailey had a big impact on the Spirit locker room, where she was known as “DJ Dor,” responsible for choosing both training and pre-game music for the team. Bailey had entered into contract with Washington through 2025 earlier this year but will now become a Bay FC player for that term.

To Utah, the Spirit are sending the 20th and 21st picks in the 2024 NWSL entry draft, which will take place in January. Those draft slots include Washington’s natural second-round selection and a pick they received in a trade with Racing Louisville in April. The Spirit retain their two first-round draft picks, as well as one pick in each the third and fourth rounds.

An Expansion Draft creates a lot of uncertainty and potential for disruption to a team’s roster plans, so the Spirit was smart to make trades for protection, providing their remaining players some much-needed stability in the process. The deal with the Utah Royals seems particularly favorable, given reporting earlier this week that protection deals were being valued at approximately $250,000 and the fact that the team will still have 4 chances to bring in talent from the college draft.

The loss of Bailey will be definitely felt, though. After years of change, Bailey was practically a veteran with a 5-year tenure at the Spirit. Always a strong player, she was especially effective this year, earning the most assists of her professional career. The Spirit will face an even more acute lack of depth without Bailey, which they will hope to remedy with additional moves this offseason.

André Carlisle contributed to this report.