The Seattle Seahawks are gearing up to take on the Los Angeles Rams in the Week 18 regular season finale. For the Seahawks, this will be their final game of the season. While it won’t be to make the playoffs, Seattle still has plenty to play for on Sunday. For starters, they can absolutely help spoil Los Angeles’ seeding should they prevail with a victory.
Additionally, quarterback Geno Smith is playing to earn himself some serious bonus money. Smith’s season has been a roller coaster. He has helped guide the Seahawks to a third-consecutive winning season, but untimely turnovers (both his fault and not) contributed to Seattle’s inconsistent offense this year.
Still, Smith was doing the best he could behind the worst offensive line in the league, and while his touchdown-to-interception numbers aren’t spectacular, he has put forth a statistical season that has him on the verge of hitting several contract escalators. ESPN’s Brady Henderson broke down where Smith stands statistically, and what Week 18 could mean for his bank account.
These escalators would be tacked onto Smith's March roster bonus. He'd be in line to get an extra $2M for Seattle getting a 10th win, an extra $2M for reaching 4,282 passing yards (needs 185) and an extra $2M for finishing at 69.7555% completion rate or higher (he's at 70.2359%).
— Brady Henderson (@BradyHenderson) December 30, 2024
Improving to 10 wins would be the best regular season Smith has ever had as a starter, and would help make the case he belongs in Seattle for 2025… or perhaps longer with an extension. It would also be the best regular season the Seahawks have had since 2020. As for his passing yards, 4,282 is a single-season Seahawks record – one Smith himself set during his first year as a starter in 2022. Should Smith break it again, he would have the No. 1 and No. 2 best passing yard seasons a Seattle quarterback has ever had.
There have been suggestions from some fans online that Sam Howell should start for the Seahawks in Week 18. An opportunity to get real film on their backup to see if they potentially have something to work with. I understand the logic behind this line of thinking, but as I mentioned earlier, Seattle can still hurt their rival’s playoff seeding. Playing for spite alone is good enough reason to play the Rams as if the game means they make the playoffs. But allowing Geno Smith to earn some more money is another quality reason as well. The Seahawks would be making a mistake robbing such an opportunity away from their starting quarterback of three seasons if they start Sam Howell instead.
