The NFL’s 18-week regular season wraps up this weekend from Saturday, January 3 through January 4, 2026, closing the book on another marathon campaign.

Following a pair of Saturday games, Sunday delivers a full slate of NFL Week 18 matchups that will finalize playoff seeding, determine postseason berths, and settle the bottom half of the draft order across the league.

While some teams are still battling for playoff positioning for their Super Bowl run, many others enter the final week with little at stake in the standings. But that doesn’t mean the games are meaningless. Across the league, dozens of players have contract incentives tied to statistical milestones, playing time thresholds, and postseason honors, bonuses that can be worth hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars.

These incentive-driven situations can lead to subtle changes in usage, play-calling, and game plans, creating. By comparing contract thresholds with the Dimers Pro NFL Projections Hub, we can better evaluate which players are realistically positioned to cash in during Week 18.

Week 18 NFL Contract Incentives

Below are some key offensive statistical milestones for the listed players, as well as the DimersBOT projections and best bet (if applicable), sorted alphabetically by team.

For the sake of simplicity and sticking with the Dimers projections, we've focused only on offensive players who are either within reach or of their bonuses or notable enough to acknowledge.

For a complete list of all player incentives in play during Week 18 and the playoffs, see more details at spotrac.com.

Baltimore Ravens

DeAndre Hopkins
Hopkins’ contract includes performance incentives tied to 611 receiving yards, 57 receptions, six total touchdowns, and a 48% offensive snap share, each earning a $250K bonus, but he enters Week 18 well short of those marks.

Through the 2025 season, Hopkins has totaled 330 receiving yards, 22 receptions, two touchdowns, and a 33.3% snap rate, leaving him hundreds of yards and dozens of catches away from triggering any bonuses. Even with a strong Week 18 showing, the gap is too wide for Hopkins to realistically cash in on any of his incentives this season.

Dimers' projections: 1.6 receptions, 23.6 rec yards, 12.0% TD probability

Buffalo Bills

Khalil Shakir

Shakir’s deal is packed with escalators across receptions, receiving yards, and touchdowns, each topping out at $600,000. His reception bonuses begin at 80 catches ($150,000) and climb to 110 catches ($600,000), while his yardage escalators start at 900 yards ($150,000) and peak at 1,200 yards ($600,000). He also has touchdown bonuses beginning at five receiving TDs ($150,000).

Entering Week 18, Shakir sits at 72 receptions, 719 yards, and four touchdowns, meaning he’s within striking distance of the lowest tiers his receptions and touchdown categories if he matches his season-best performance from Week 12.

Dimers' projections: 2.5 receptions, 25.7 rec yards, 23.2% TD probability

Dawson Knox

Knox has already done most of his damage through playing-time incentives, surpassing the 45%, 55%, and 60% snap thresholds, which has earned him the full $650,000 available in that category.

He has also crossed the 30-reception ($100,000) and 250-yard ($100,000) thresholds of his receiving escalators, sitting at 34 catches and 393 yards, but remains short of the next tiers at 40 receptions and 400 yards. Knox is also one touchdown shy of triggering his first TD incentive, which begins at four total touchdowns for $100,000, making him one of the more interesting tight ends to monitor in Week 18.

Dimers' projections: 1.7 receptions, 17.6 yards, 19.4% TD probability

Carolina Panthers

Rico Dowdle

Dowdle has one of the most lucrative incentive structures in the league, with escalating bonuses tied to scrimmage yards and touchdowns.

His scrimmage-yard bonuses include $500,000 at 800 yards, $500,000 at 950 yards, $500,000 at 1,100 yards, and a massive $1 million payout at 1,350 yards. He enters Week 18 with 1,343 scrimmage yards, just seven yards away from unlocking that $1 million bonus.

He’s also reached the six-touchdown ($250,000) tier and is one TD away from the eight-touchdown bonus, making him a prime candidate for incentive-driven usage in a pivotal game in the race for the final NFC playoff spot.

Dimers' projections: 55.8 rush yards, 19.4 rec yards, 37.2% TD probability

Houston Texans

Nico Collins

Collins has already secured his $250,000 Pro Bowl bonus, but his additional performance incentives tied to 95 receptions ($250,000) and 1,460 receiving yards ($250,000) are no longer within reach.

He enters Week 18 with 71 receptions and 1,117 yards, meaning even a massive final-game performance wouldn’t bridge the gap to those thresholds. Still, with the Pro Bowl bonus locked in, Collins has already cashed in on his incentive package for the season.

Dimers' projections: 4.9 receptions, 70.6 rec yards

Nick Chubb

Chubb’s rushing-based incentives are structured in tiers, starting at 600 rushing yards ($250,000) and escalating through 800, 1,000, and 1,200 yards, with total bonuses reaching $1.25 million.

With 506 rushing yards entering Week 18, Chubb needs 94 yards to reach the first payout tier. However, he's now buried on the Texans depth chart as RB3 at best and with Houston needing a win for a chance at the AFC South title, Chubb will be lucky to get more than a couple of carries

Dimers' projections: 6.3 rush yards

Indianapolis Colts

Michael Pittman Jr.

Pittman’s contract includes a straightforward incentive: $250,000 for reaching 1,000 receiving yards on the season.

He enters Week 18 with 773 receiving yards, meaning he would need a career-best 227-yard performance with backup QB Riley Leonard throwing the ball to cash in.

Dimers' projections: 3.4 receptions, 36.6 rec yards

Kansas City Chiefs

Marquise Brown

Brown’s incentives are split between touchdowns and receiving yards, both with sizable payouts. He has already hit the five-touchdown threshold ($500,000) and the 500-yard receiving threshold ($500,000), earning $1 million total.

With five TDs and 523 yards, his next milestones are six touchdowns ($750,000) and 625 receiving yards ($625,000), putting him within reasonable range of one of those bonuses if he can find the end zone, but projects well short of the 102 yards he needs, a mark he has never hit as a Kansas City Chief.

Dimers' projections: 2.6 receptions, 31.5 rec yards, 20.6% TD probability

Kareem Hunt

Hunt’s incentives revolve around playing time and scrimmage yards. He has already surpassed the 41.6% snap threshold, earning $125,000, and is just shy of the 50% snap mark, a mark he should hit on Sunday, which would double that payout.

He’s also reached the 500 scrimmage-yard incentive, earning $100,000, and sits at 719 scrimmage yards, leaving him just 31 yards short of the next tier at 750 yards, which earns an additional $25,000.

However, he's unlikely to come close to his next set of escalators, scrimmage totals of 905, 1,00 and 1,250 earning a total of $625,000.

Dimers' projections: 23.5 rushing yards, 7.4 receiving yards

Los Angeles Chargers

Keenan Allen

Allen’s incentive package is one of the most layered on the list, with bonuses tied to receptions, receiving yards, and touchdowns.

He has already surpassed 71 receptions, earning $1 million, and sits at 74 catches, just six shy of the lucrative 80-reception bonus worth $750,000. In the yardage department, Allen has earned $500,000 so far but needs 134 more yards to reach 875 and unlock another $250,000. His touchdown incentives begin at six total TDs and he sits with four touchdowns.

Unfortunately for Allen, the Chargers will be resting their starters and Allen won't have a chance to cash in some extra money in Week 18.

New England Patriots

Stefon Diggs

Diggs has already cashed in big on his reception incentives, earning $1 million total by surpassing 70 and 80 catches, with additional bonuses of $500K available at 90 and 100 receptions each.

However, his yardage incentives are in play as well. Sitting at 82 receptions and 970 receiving yards, Diggs needs 30 yards to hit the 1,000-yard threshold ($500,000), plus another $500K for each 100 additional yards up to 1,300, making him one of the clearest incentive targets heading into Week 18.

He's had two 130-yard games this year, meaning he could find himself cashing in with another monster game.

Dimers' projections: 4.1 receptions, 50.8 rec yards

Hunter Henry

Henry’s contract rewards volume, with reception incentives starting at 50 catches ($250,000) and escalating every 5 receptions up to 65 catches ($1 million total).

Entering Week 18, Henry has 55 receptions, earning $500,000 so far. Another solid target share could push him toward the 60-catch threshold, which would unlock an additional $250,000.

Dimers' projections: 3.4 receptions, 39.0 receiving yards

Philadelphia Eagles

Saquon Barkley

Barkley’s incentives are tied to yards from scrimmage, with payouts at 1,500 yards ($250,000) and 2,000 yards ($500,000).

Entering the final week with 1,413 scrimmage yards, Barkley needs 87 yards to hit the first bonus tier.

However, the Eagles will be resting starters this week vs. the Commanders, meaning Barkley won't be cashing in on his bonuses.

Seattle Seahawks

Sam Darnold

No one has more on the line this week than the Seahawks QB, $2 million dollars, in fact.

Darnold’s contract includes four major performance incentives worth $500,000 each, tied to a 100 passer rating, 28 passing touchdowns, 4,000 passing yards, and a 67.5% completion rate.

Entering Week 18, he’s narrowly short across the board, sitting at 99.18 passer rating, 25 TDs, 3,850 yards, and a 67.2% completion rate.

The Seahawks are also playing for the NFC West title and the No. 1 seed, so expect Darnold to be dialed in this week.

Dimers' projections: 20.2 pass completions, 236.6 pass yards

San Francisco 49ers

Kendrick Bourne

Bourne’s incentives are based solely on receptions, with bonuses at 45 catches ($500,000) and 55 catches ($750,000). With 37 receptions entering Week 18, he would need an unusually high-volume outing to trigger even the first tier, making his incentive situation unlikely to cash against an elite Seahawks passing defense.

Dimers' projections: 0.8 receptions, 12.6 rec yards

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Baker Mayfield

Mayfield’s incentives are tied to league rankings and year-over-year improvements, including bonuses for finishing top five in passer rating, and either top 10 in the NFL in each of completion percentage and yards per attempt *or* finishing Top 5 in the NFC in those same categories.

He also cashes in $500K if he can improve in his passing categories from last year, which he is well behind.

Mayfield currently ranks well outside in completion percentage and passer rating and many of these bonuses won’t be finalized until the full Week 18 slate concludes, making his incentive outcomes dependent on league-wide results rather than a single-game stat line.

Dimers' projections: 20.3 pass completions, 223.9 pass yards

Tennessee Titans

Tony Pollard

Pollard’s incentives include $250,000 for 1,100 rushing yards, $200,000 for seven rushing touchdowns, and $200,000 for 60 receptions, along with a $100,000 Pro Bowl bonus.

Thanks to a late-season surge, he enters Week 18 with at least one in play and one longshot chance, sitting at 1,034 rushing yards, five rushing TDs, and 30 receptions.

Dimers' projections: 67.5 rush yards, 1.8 receptions, 4.7% probability for 2 TD

Washington Commanders

Deebo Samuel

Samuel has already triggered receiving-based incentives, earning $250,000 for surpassing 700 receiving yards, plus $250,000 and $450,000 for hitting 60 and 70 receptions, respectively.

Sitting on 707 receiving yards and 70 receptions, he remains eligible for higher tiers at 800 yards and 80 receptions, but his rushing-based incentives are effectively off the table with just 74 rushing yards and one rushing TD on the season.

Dimers' projections: 3.4 receptions, 37.2 receiving yards

Dimers' NFL Betting Resources for the 2024-25 Season

• NFL Week 18 Predictions: Our data-backed previews for every Week 18 matchup
• NFL Best Bets: Our Top Picks for every game, every week
• Super Bowl Odds: Who will hoist the Lombardi Trophy?
• Best NFL Props: Player edges and projections from our predictive analytics model
• NFL Betting News: The latest promos, storylines and more around the league

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