Becky Sauerbrunn and Megan Rapinoe are eligible for the NWSL expansion draft

United States women's soccer team stars Megan Rapinoe, Becky Sauerbrunn and Kristie Mewis are among those who have been left unprotected by their teams and are available to be taken in next week's National Women's Soccer League expansion draft.

The draft, scheduled for Dec. 16, will allow expansion teams Angel City FC and San Diego Wave FC to select up to nine players each from existing teams in the NWSL. Teams were allowed to protect up to nine players on their rosters, leaving the rest of the players on their rosters available to be chosen.

USWNT Unprotected players

In addition to unprotected lists including Rapinoe (OL Reign), Sauerbrunn (Portland Thorns), and Mewis (Houston Dash), other U.S. national team players left unprotected include Kelley O'Hara, Andi Sullivan, and Emily Sonnett of the Washington Spirit, but due to pre-draft deals, they are not expected to be selected. Canadian all-time leading scorer Christine Sinclair (Portland Thorns) is also unprotected.

Four NWSL teams earned full immunity in the expansion draft through a series of trades before last week's roster freeze: the Chicago Red Stars, the Kansas City Current, NJ/NY Gotham, and the North Carolina Courage. Due to pre-draft trades, Angel City can't select any of OL Reign's forwards, including Rapinoe, but San Diego can.

The Portland Thorns and Racing Louisville are protected from Angel City while the Spirit are protected from San Diego. The Kansas City Current, which joined the NWSL this year, are exempt from the expansion draft.

Reign protected players

The Reign announced they had protected the following nine players: Angelina, Bethany Balcer, Alana Cook, Jess Fishlock, Sofia Huerta, Rose Lavelle, Quinn, Phallon Tullis-Joyce and Ally Watt.

The Reign also announced they acquired Sinclaire Miramontez off waivers from Racing Louisville. The Reign agreed to the permanent transfer of Nicole Momiki to Linköpings FC in the Swedish Damallsvenskan.

Rosters don't unfreeze until after the expansion draft on Dec. 17, but in years past, teams often engage in handshake agreements and negotiate deals before they can be finalized in order to protect players. The NWSL college draft is set for Dec. 18, which typically ushers in another round of trades among teams.

NWSL Draft

The National Women's Soccer League transfer window has closed and several teams engaged in trades ahead of the upcoming 2022 Expansion Draft and 2022 NWSL Draft. The league will expand to 12 clubs in 2022 as San Diego Wave FC and Los Angeles Angel City FC enter the fold. The two teams will continue to build out their rosters on Dec. 16 during the expansion draft, which will be aired on CBS Sports Network and streamed live on Paramount+.

The NWSL Draft will be held Dec. 18 and will air on Paramount+ and on CBS Sports HQ. Fans can also watch both events on the CBS Sports HQ Twitch channel and on the CBS Sports HQ and NWSL YouTube channels. Both drafts will stream internationally outside the U.S. on the NWSL's Twitch channel.

The double expansion draft event let to multiple teams engaging during the transfer window, with full roster protection and partial roster protection as a valuable asset. In between the big negotiations, there were also declined player options and contract extensions. The next window opens after the expansion draft, but let's take a look at some of the biggest moves from the recent trade window.