The Seattle Seahawks have put together a competitive 9-7 effort this season, but win or lose, there will be no moving beyond their Week 18 contest against the Los Angeles Rams.
Seattle won't make the playoffs for the second consecutive campaign, despite winning records in both 2023 and 2024. That argues for both benching quarterback Geno Smith this weekend and potentially moving on from him over the offseason.
Smith is heading into the final year of his $75 million contract in 2025 and carries a salary cap hit of $38.5 million. The Seahawks can save $25 million by cutting or trading Smith at any point before the start of next season, and the team can keep an extra $6 million in its pocket by making sure he doesn't hit multiple incentives in what could be his final game in a Seattle uniform this weekend.
"Quarterback Geno Smith is 185 passing yards away from a $2 million bonus," Tyler Sullivan of CBS Sports reported Thursday. "He also needs just over a 69.7% completion rate to hit another $2 million bonus and is a win shy of another $2 million bonus."
Seattle has no incentive to allow Smith to hit any of those marks, although benching the QB for the sole purpose of denying him a chance at that money may not be the best public relations strategy when it comes to making pitches to free agents this March.
However, there is also incentive in keeping Smith out of a meaningless game to maintain his health ahead of his age-35 campaign -- either as the Seahawks' prospective starter next year or as a potential trade chip over the offseason.
Whichever way you slice it, it would be a surprise to see Smith start/play on Sunday against L.A., and it would be an even bigger shock if he played long enough to earn all $6 million incentives on the line for the quarterback in Week 18.
