Injuries have always been an unfortunate part of sports, but for the Washington Mystics, the 2023 WNBA season has been unfair. They had recently been without three starters in Elena Delle Donne, Ariel Atkins and Shakira Austin and one key reserve in Kristi Toliver. They recently got Austin back but are still without the other three. In a tightening playoff race with a little less than one month to go in the regular season, the team is desperately trying to hold on to a playoff spot. To ensure that the Mystics have enough available players on the roster, they signed Jennie Simms to a 7-day contract.

https://x.com/wnbamoves/status/1690774453649555457?s=61&t=TZ_l9NemhwIAfOmcns4-kw

Jennie Simms 7-day contract is likely a hardship contract just so the Mystics have enough roster players until somebody else returns from injury. WNBA teams are allowed to sign additional players to hardship contracts beyond the 12 player roster maximum if they have less than 10 available players.

Simms was the No. 16 overall pick in the 2017 WNBA Draft by the Mystics. She split her rookie season between the Mystics and the Indiana Fever before being out of the league until 2022. Simms returned to the WNBA during the 2022 season when the Mercury signed her to multiple hardship contracts throughout the season.

This year, she joined the Mercury again for training camp but did not make the final roster. The Mercury had signed her to a hardship contract earlier this season as well. She's appeared in a total of 29 games with the Mercury over the last two seasons.