Meaningless? Eliminated Seahawks finale at West champ Rams is Geno Smith’s $6M game

They are not going to the playoffs. For one of only three times in more than a dozen years, they are playing a game while eliminated from postseason contention.

But the finale to this sputtering, see-saw Seahawks season isn’t meaningless.

Not to Geno Smith.

Seattle’s final game of the 2024 season at the NFC West-champion Los Angeles Rams is the veteran quarterback’s $6 million game. That’s how much he stands to earn in contract incentives and bonus cash Sunday.

It’s unusual for the Seahawks to be in this spot. This is just the third time in 13 years they are entering the final game of the regular season eliminated from playoff contention.

And it is unusual for an NFL player to have this much at stake in one game.

How much? The $6 million in bonuses is 47% on top of Smith’s base salary of $12.7 million for this season.

“Yeah,” Smith said Thursday, “I know.”

The three-year, $75 million contract Smith signed with the Seahawks in March 2023 following his lights-out, 2022 season in which he broke four team records for passing in a season has incentive clauses. They give Smith an additional $2 million for bettering his 2022 performance in each of five statistical categories:

• passing yards (4,282) — 4097 (needs 186 yds)

• passing touchdowns (30)— 17 (needs 14)

• completion rate 69.8% — 70.2%

• passer rating 100.9 — 90.5

• wins/playoff appearance (nine wins)

Smith needs 186 yards Sunday to earn $2 million in the passing-yards incentive.

He isn’t going to earn his bonuses for passing touchdowns (he needs 14) and passer rating. He’s at 90.5 for this season, 10.4 points behind his 100.9 rating in his first Pro Bowl and first playoff-start season of 2022.

Yet he will hit another $2 million for the completion-rate benchmark if he has a game Sunday that’s on par with his season so far. Smith has completed a career-high 70.2% of his throws this season. He has to finish above 69.8% to earn that bonus.

Smith will earn a third bonus of $2 million if the Seahawks beat Los Angeles. It would be Seattle’s 10th win over the season, one more than the team had in the 2022 season.

And Smith will be playing against a Rams team that may not have many starters on the field Sunday. Los Angeles coach Sean McVay has said Jimmy Garoppolo will play instead of starting quarterback Matthew Stafford. McVay also indicated this week he’s inclined to rest other starters Sunday.

So, yes, Smith is aware he’s got $6 million riding on how he and the Seahawks play in this “meaningless” game in Inglewood, California (1:25 p.m., channel 13).

“Yeah, it will definitely be a little hard (not to think of the incentive bonuses),” Smith said. “You don’t want to go out there — I was talking to someone earlier in the week — yeah, I’m aware of where those things are. But you don’t want to go out there and be chasing it. I feel like that really affects your decision-making. In a game that decision-making’s everything, you want to make sure that you’re making the sound decisions and not just doing things to chase incentives.

“So, yeah, I’m aware of it. But also, like I said, with respects to the game, I’ve got to go out there and do the right things.”

Mike Macdonald knows

Coach Mike Macdonald is also aware of Smith’s potential to earn millions more Sunday.

Macdonald is aware Jaxon Smith-Njigba is just five receptions from breaking Tyler Lockett’s team record of 100 receptions in a season.

Smith-Njigba sure knows. The 22-year-old first-round draft choice in 2023 learned a couple weeks ago he was closing in on Lockett’s record.

From Lockett.

“When he came up to me about two weeks ago, he was like, ‘Hey, man, I think you’re gonna break my record. I hope you break my record,’” Smith-Njigba said before practice Wednesday. “And I was like, ‘Oh, really.’

“Special, special moment. Hopefully, we get it. But certainly not gonna press about it.”

Macdonald knows DK Metcalf needs 61 yards Sunday for his fourth 1,000-yard receiving season of his six-year NFL career.

Those aren’t contract-bonus benchmarks for the wide receivers for this season. But they are milestones agents use to leverage for more money come contract time. Like Smith’s, Metcalf’s Seahawks deal ends after the 2025 season.

“It’s one of those things where you’re probably going to look (at). There (are) financial things involved with it, which you want your guys to hit those numbers,” Macdonald said Wednesday.

“If it’s within your power, you’re going to try to make that come to life. Create as many opportunities for those guys as possible, all within the lens of what’s best for the team and trying to win.”

Macdonald said the team “might have a couple ongoing jokes with a couple of the guys on some of those things” during the week and the game Sunday.

He’s not concerned the players are focused on the wrong things.

“They’re going to be great,” the coach said. “They’re approaching it the right way.

“But, yeah, you’re working together with that. That’s definitely something you want to help the guys with.”

Seahawks appreciate Mike Macdonald

The coach’s open acknowledgment of these contract bonuses and milestones in play Sunday is another instance of Macdonald publicly saying something that’s gotten back to the locker room, by design. It’s part of what continues to win the players over to their 37-year-old rookie head coach.

“Yeah, you’ve got to appreciate him saying that,” Smith said Thursday, “just being open and honest about it.

“Coach understands. He’s always been that way, and I think that’s what makes him who he is. I think that’s what makes guys respect him. Because he’s honest in his assessment, with everything.

“As far as the milestones...obviously, like I said, man, yeah, you want to hit those. You want to achieve all the things that you can achieve. But well within the respects of the game.

“Just going out there playing football. Obviously, it’s going to be on your mind.”

The 34-year-old quarterback chuckled.

“You know about it,” Smith said. “But you try not to think about it. You just go out there and do the right thing, and let the chips fall where they may.”