Unfortunately, the Seahawks vs. Rams rematch won’t be for the NFC West title.
If you’ve made it this far, congratulations! You’re one of those who don’t give up. If you’ve seen Jim Mora’s Seattle Seahawks team, a 9-win season wouldn’t get you down.
It’s time to take a closer look at players who are about to end their contracts and think about who is worth counting on for next year. The 2025 season has already started for the Seahawks.
Let’s Go!
Cap implications
QB Geno Smith has three escalators on his contract that could increase his value by 6 million. These amounts would be added in March, when/if Geno is on the roster.
They are:
- $2M for a tenth win;
- $2M if he throws for at least 185 yards;
- $2M for finishing with a completion rate greater than or equal to 69.7555% or higher (he’s at 70.2359%).
So, the first thought might be to think about leaving Geno Smith out of the starting lineup, right?
Wrong.
First of all, not that Sam Howell is capable of that, but if he can get his 10th win, Geno would still get the $2M anyway. Plus, Howell has played 1,152 of 3,342 snaps, which amounts to just over 34% of the possible snaps in his first three years in the league.
If he finishes above 35% (and he would achieve that as a starter), he enters the Proven Performance Escalator and gets a raise of, oddly enough, the same $2M in 2025.
Not much in game for Seattle
Mike Macdonald has said he’s looking for a win against the Rams (why would he say otherwise?). A 10th win would put him past Chuck Knox and Mike Holmgren for most wins in his first year as Seahawks head coach. Ten wins would be the most since 2020’s 12-4 start and the last time the Seahawks won the division. It is worth noting that despite being able to pass the aforementioned HCs, Knox and Holmgren (and Pete Carroll in his first year as well) made the playoffs. The Seahawks not only missed the playoffs, but were eliminated with a week to spare.
Since John Schneider took over as GM, this will be only the third time that the Seahawks have played the last week without “meaning anything.” The others were in 2011 and 2021, when the team also arrived at this last week eliminated.
Same for Los Angeles, too…
Sean McVay did not make a concrete statement that he will rest the entire team. However, he said that Jimmy Garoppolo will play a lot and players that had few chances like the reserve RBs and OLs would also have a lot of snaps.
If the Rams lose, they could lose a seeding position if the Tampa Bay Buccaneers win their game. That would be the difference between facing the Washington Commanders or the loser of Detroit Lions/Minnesota Vikings. McVay seems to be more concerned with keeping his team healthy than “picking” the opponent. Let’s see how it works for them!
Final Thoughts
I plan to write an article analyzing the season as a whole next week. However, even though I am extremely dissatisfied with the end of season, I must admit that if someone had told me at the beginning of the year that we would achieve a positive record with the roster we had and that we showed a promising defense, it would have been enough. Remember, Mike Macdonald’s first year as HC and an entirely new coaching staff that needs to and will be adjusted for next season.
It is normal for us to always want more. It was very close to happening. The game against the Giants and the first match against the Rams were what ended up deciding the team’s future.
Now it is time to lift our heads, think about free agency and the Draft. We will still see each other a lot here. Thank you for accompanying me in my dream that came true. As a Brazilian, I would never have imagined being able to write for the American media and on the website where I have followed the Seahawks since I decided to root for them. Thank you Field Gulls and Mookie Alexander for believing in me!