Report: Jewell Loyd, Storm Agree to Contract After Mercedes Russell's Return

Jewell Loyd is returning to the Seattle Storm.

The Associated Press' Doug Feinberg reported Monday that Loyd and teammate Breanna Stewart reached agreements with the team.

Seattle announced Jan. 14 it had applied the core designation to Loyd, which works similarly to the franchise tag in the NFL. The core designation offers the team exclusive negotiating rights while guaranteeing the player the supermax salary for one season.

According to Winsidr's Rachel Galligan, Loyd's deal will run for two years.

Tuesday was the first day on which players could begin officially signing contracts. So far, the Storm have only confirmed they re-signed center Mercedes Russell.

The length of Loyd's contract could be very important.

There's only one core qualifying offer to go around at a time for each team, and the designation extends through the duration of the player's next deal. 

Even if a player has no intention of sticking around, the core tag can be beneficial because it facilitates a sign-and-trade. Last year, Seattle had exclusive negotiating rights with Natasha Howard, who wound up on the New York Liberty as part of a series of trades.

If the Storm sign Loyd for only one season, then they'd still have the core offer as a tool in their arsenal in 2023. That's when Stewart is due to hit the market again, with Yahoo Sports' Chris Haynes reporting she agreed to a one-year deal.

A two-year pact with Loyd takes that off the table.

Rather than having a mechanism to either tie down Stewart for another year or force a free-agent suitor to send plenty their way in a sign-and-trade for the 2018 MVP, the Storm will have no recourse if she wants to bolt.

For now, Seattle is poised to make at least one more run at a title to send Sue Bird off into the sunset on top. The franchise's long-term outlook is a little more murky, though.