Sam Darnold, Keenan Allen Among Those With Contract Incentives in Play for NFL Week 18

Darnold, the Seattle Seahawks quarterback, has four different $500,000 bonuses he could reach in Week 18, totaling an extra $2 million payday.

Sam Darnold (14) of the Seattle Seahawks warms up prior to a game against the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C., on Dec. 28, 2025. Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

Week 18 has lots of stakes as there are numerous playoff berths or postseason seeding possibilities available for several teams.

However, players also have lots on the line for the regular season finale, whether it be NFL records—such as Myles Garrett going for the single-season sack record—or statistical milestones.

The latter is often tied to contract incentives that franchises put into deals to motivate players, and there are plenty of them at stake in NFL Week 18.

Here are some of the notable player incentives in play for Week 18, courtesy of Spotrac.

QB Sam Darnold, Seahawks: $2 Million

No player can walk out of Week 18 with as big a payday as Darnold, as he has four different incentives worth $500,000 each, totaling $2 million. They are as follows:

• $500,000 for 100-plus passer rating (Currently at 99.2)
• $500,000 for 28 pass TD (Currently at 25)
• $500,000 for 4,000 pass yds (Currently at 3,850)
• $500,000 for 67.5 percent comp pct (Currently at 67.2 percent)

The passing yards mark seems like a sure bet as Darnold needs just 150 yards, while both the passer rating and completion percentage incentives are certainly reachable as well. However, Darnold may struggle to throw for three scores as his Seahawks face the San Francisco 49ers on Saturday. In their matchup earlier this year, Darnold didn’t have a single passing touchdown, though that was against a defense that had both Nick Bosa and Fred Warner.

Over Darnold’s career, he’s faced San Francisco three times and has a total of three passing touchdowns across those contests.

WR Hollywood Brown, Chiefs: $1.38 Million

Expect the Chiefs wideout to be in the ears of coach Andy Reid and quarterback Chris Oladokun on Sunday versus the Las Vegas Raiders. That’s because the speedster has a couple of incentives in play, including one more touchdown catch for $750,000 and then another $625,000 for gaining 102 receiving yards.

However, and perhaps with the Chiefs aware of Brown’s impending payday, they have phased him out of the offense recently. Over his last three games, Brown has a total of 64 receiving yards and zero touchdowns.

WR Keenan Allen, Chargers: $1.25 Million

Allen was a late re-addition to the Chargers as he didn’t join the team until after preseason had started. But he’s clearly glad he did and will be highly motivated in Week 18.

He needs just 9 receiving yards to reach 750 for the season and a $250,000 bonus. Additionally, he needs 6 receptions to get to 80 on the year and a $750,000 bonus. Both of those are certainly within reach, but he may struggle to cash in on another $250,000 check, which would require him to score 2 touchdowns.

He has 6 touchdowns on the year, and with the Chargers sitting QB Justin Herbert for their Week 18 game versus Denver, Allen is a long shot to find the endzone twice against the AFC’s presumptive No. 1 seed.

RB Rico Dowdle, Panthers: $1.25 Million

Earlier this season, Dowdle was fined $14,491 by the NFL for what it classified as an obscene gesture during a touchdown celebration. Well, he can recoup that money, and then some, with even a pedestrian Week 18 performance.

Dowdle needs just 7 scrimmage yards to reach 1,350 for the season, which would earn a $1 million bonus. Plus, he could also earn another $250,000 by scoring his eighth touchdown of the year. For someone who is on a one-year, $2.75 million deal, Dowdle could make 45.5 percent of his contract’s value in a single day if he hits both incentives.

The Panthers face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Saturday, and Dowdle failed to score against Tampa when he faced it just two weeks ago.

DL Calais Campbell, Cardinals: $1 Million

The 39-year-old, 18-year vet has strongly hinted that this will be his final NFL season, which means Sunday would be his final NFL game with Arizona not in the playoffs. Campbell, who has 117 career sacks, and 6.5 sacks this season, could ride off into the sunset a bit wealthier if he can notch one more quarterback takedown.

Campbell has a $1 million bonus for reaching 7.5 sacks as the Cardinals take on the Los Angeles Rams.

The future Hall of Famer has 12 career sacks versus L.A., which is his second-most versus any NFL team, and Rams QB, Matthew Stafford, was just sacked a season-high-tying three times in the team’s Week 17 loss.

OL Dillon Radunz, Saints: $250,000

For offensive linemen, it’s hard to quantify their value to a team as there aren’t many counting stats to go off. However, playing time is one of those, with Radunz having an incentive tied to how many snaps he’s on the field for.

If he’s on the field for 70 percent of offensive snaps with the New Orleans Saints, then he gets a quarter of a million dollars.

Radunz, who began the year as a starter, then didn’t see the field on offense at all for four games, has since been reinserted into the starting lineup and logged every offensive snap for each of the last seven games. Thus, he enters Week 18 sitting at 68.9 percent of offensive snaps and simply has to stay healthy, and on the field, in Week 18 against the Atlanta Falcons to reach the 70 percent threshold and cash in.