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Bridget Carleton was the Fire's first overall pick in last week's WNBA expansion draft, and now she's the new franchise's first-ever free-agent signing.
On Saturday, the first day teams are allowed to officially sign free agents to contracts in this year's rapid-fire offseason period, the Fire officially announced the signing of Carleton. According to a league source, her deal is for three years. ESPN reported on Saturday that it's a max deal, which has a starting salary of $1.19 million for the 2026 season.
The Fire's first free-agent signing that isn't one of their expansion-draft selections is veteran guard Karlie Samuelson, who was a teammate of Carleton in Minnesota last season. That signing was also announced officially by the team on Saturday afternoon.
The two expansion teams, the Fire and Toronto Tempo, were each only allowed to select one unrestricted free agent in last week's expansion draft. Carleton was that choice for Portland after the Minnesota Lynx left her unprotected. General manager Vanja Černivec called that choice a "no-brainer" and said she believes Carleton, an eight-year veteran who was a role player on a contending Lynx team, has All-Star upside if she's given a bigger role.
Samuelson, who has played for six teams in eight seasons in the WNBA, is a player that Černivec and Fire head coach Alex Sarama both know well. She played for the London Lions of the Women's British Basketball League in the 2023-24 season, when Černivec was their general manager before she was hired by the expansion Golden State Valkyries as vice president of basketball operations. Sarama was the Lions' director of methodology at the time. The Lions won the EuroCup championship in 2024 and Samuelson was named Finals MVP.
The signings of Carleton and Samuelson make five players the Fire have under contract out of 12 roster spots with eight days to go before the start of training camp next Sunday. Three of their expansion draftees, Carla Leite, Sarah Ashlee Barker and Nika Mühl, are on their rookie-scale contracts. Since Mühl is expected to miss the entire 2026 WNBA season recovering from a torn right ACL, her contract will be suspended, meaning she will not take up a roster spot and her $293,510 salary will not count against the cap.
The Fire hold the No. 7, 17 and 37 overall picks in Monday's collegiate draft and continue to have discussions with other free agents.
