Expansion draft protection is an unusual commodity and not something typically boasted about out loud, but that's what the Chicago Red Stars have acquired–at a substantial cost.
Chicago sent forwards Savannah McCaskill and Yuki Nagasato along with an international roster slot and the No. 5 overall pick in the 2021 NWSL draft to expansion club Racing Louisville FC for the promise that none of the Red Stars' other players will be subjected to Louisville's expansion draft process next month. For Chicago, which has a number of USWNT-calibers players in Julie Ertz, Tierna Davidson, Morgan Gautrat, Casey Short, Alyssa Naeher, Kealia Watt and Sarah Gorden and would not be able to protect all of them, that clearly represented a price worth paying.