The National Women's Soccer League has launched a new player development mechanism that will allow teams to identify youth players who they could sign in the future to contracts that would not fully count against the salary cap, multiple sources told ESPN.

The rule is separate from and in addition to the NWSL's Under-18 signing mechanism. The new player development rule (PDR) will allow teams to fund and directly oversee a player's development and be rewarded financially if they or another NWSL team signs that player to a professional contract. The rule is already in place, and teams have begun registering players, multiple sources told ESPN.

The rule requires NWSL teams to "register" players they have identified -- as young as U15 -- with the league and create an individual development plan. After two years and over 200 hours of qualifying oversight, a team can sign the player and receive significant salary cap relief. One source used 80% cap relief as an example. All salary cap relief would run through the players' 23rd birthday.

Players will maintain their amateur status and NCAA eligibility. Under the PDR mechanism, a two-year oversight period is required, meaning that NWSL teams will not be able to start signing PDR players to senior-team contracts until 2028.