Mercado's Self-Bet Results in Extension; Diallo Slowly Ramps Up

TUKWILA, Wash. — Ami Diallo, the Seattle Reign's newest forward who joined the team just last Thursday after signing on Aug. 18, was asked who she liked to watch in the NWSL before she entered the league herself. She thought for a moment and named Brazilian legend Marta. Then, quietly, as is her way, she named Maddie Mercado — her new teammate on the Reign enjoying a breakout season in 2026.

Mercado, whose notoriety is far from that of the great Marta, was on loan this time last season with the Carolina Ascent to get more minutes. The 24-year-old from Notre Dame was struggling to get on the pitch, but scored four goals in just six games for the Ascent, leading Seattle GM Lesle Gallimore to recall her ahead of the NWSL Playoffs. In 2026, a 25-year-old Mercado is up to eight goals to lead the team and has made herself irreplaceable as she tracks toward being the first Reign player to score 10 or more goals since the legendary Megan Rapinoe in 2017 (franchise record 12 goals).

But it's quite apparent that no one, even the Reign in their decision to recall her, believed in Mercado more than she believed in herself.

She put a trigger in her last contract through 2026 that would activate a player option in 2027 if she hit a minutes-played threshold this year. With eight games to play this season, Mercado already hit the threshold to push her deal through the 2027 season.

"This year I kind of had it in my mind that I wanted to earn that," Mercado said of the clause after training on Tuesday. "This year really is the first year where people have seen, I think, what I'm really capable of on the field."

Indeed, Mercado had put up just 587 regular-season minutes in her first two seasons combined after being drafted in 2024, scoring one goal in 19 regular-season appearances. As she pushed her appearances for 2026 up to 22 and her minutes to 1,805, Mercado scored her latest goal on Sunday in a 1-0 win over the San Diego Wave in which she leaped over a defender to head in what would be the game-winning score. It was her seventh game in the last 10 with a goal contribution, as Mercado has manned the right wing consistently with Mia Fishel operating at striker.