THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: A method to the Seahawk madness

No, no, no.

With all due respect, many of you do not understand the plan here.

It’s not just local folk, either.

Plenty of national media, including those characters who insist on shouting when a civil conversation would be enough, have been yelling about the Seahawks’ discarding of Geno Smith, DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett.

Those moves, plus the signing of QB Sam Darnold, have been called “foolish” and “naive.”

Among other things.

I don’t think Seahawks GM John Schneider and coach Mike Macdonald are particularly bummed about all the meaningless noise from outside.

Especially since the critics are wrong.

As I type this, Seattle still needs to patch some holes in the offense.

Clearly, somebody to catch Darnold’s throws would come in handy.

Jaxon Smith-Njigba is a star, but he needs company.

The offensive line, which ranked in the NFL’s bottom five a year ago (depending on whose rankings you’re using), absolutely MUST be fixed.

New offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak comes from a tree of coaches who want to run the ball — particularly to the edges — and then work in play-action passes.

The good news: Darnold ran almost that exact offense to great success a year ago in Minnesota.

SAM SHOULD be fine.

If not, the Hawks are paying him a lot less than Geno wanted, and the 2026 draft class is filled with exciting QB prospects.

But that’s not the point.

Doomsayers who are whining about the Hawks taking some awful risk here just don’t get the big picture.

Schneider, Macdonald (and owner Jody Allen) are aiming to escape the NFL’s worst sort of rut.

The Seahawks have been stuck in the dreaded middle class — with a roster solid enough to win eight or nine games, but not good enough to make a serious playoff run.

Or beat the teams who fit into that class.

Geno Smith is a decent quarterback, but no more than that, and he’d reached the point in his contract evolution where he wants to be paid on par with the league’s best.

This is a quarterback ranked 19th by Pro Football Focus, and he’s asking for $45 million per year — over three or four seasons.

Metcalf falls into the same category.

He’s had six solid years in Seattle, but he’s never been ranked among the league’s top dozen receivers — not even by his peers.

The Seahawks believe internally that they’ve gotten the best of DK’s production, that he’ll likely slide backward, and there’s no way they’d match top dollar to keep him.

Four days after Metcalf asked to be traded, Seattle obliged with a move to Pittsburgh.

The Steelers then signed Metcalf to a new five-year, $150 million deal, according to multiple NFL sources.

The contract includes four years and $132 million added to the one year he had remaining on his current deal.

That’s astronomically more than the Hawks would pay, but the Steelers have been very, very desperate for a No. 1 receiver.

DO YOU see what’s happening here?

The Seahawks have found a path out of mediocrity by unloading the real cash and cap restrictions attached to Smith and Metcalf.

Trading Geno and DK, plus releasing Lockett and a few other players, have shot the Hawks from scrambling along — dangerously over the cap — to having $68.4 million in that coffee can buried out back. (per Spotrac).

Geno already has been replaced, and there’s money left to find pass catching and offensive line talent, either in free agency or through the draft — where Seattle has five picks between Nos. 18 and 92.

This is NOT rebuilding.

It’s a bid, much like Schneider made around 2011, to create a bona fide playoff team.

Macdonald already has demonstrated that he can put together a first-rate defense, so now the key spots on offense must be addressed.

Unlike a year ago, though, the Seahawks have money and cap space to add the exciting pieces.

I won’t jump into dreamworld too quickly, but this is the path the Eagles took to win a Super Bowl.

They refused to get stuck in the middle of the pack, with no realistic way out of that quicksand.

The Seahawks were in that same frustrating position over the past few years, but now there’s a way to escape.

Yes, they still have to fill some critical positions and continue to make solid financial decisions that match the talent they’re buying.

So far, so good on that front.

Go ahead and feel optimistic.

In just one week, the Seahawks have opened the door to becoming a better team.

It’s a hell of a start.

Email: scameron@cdapress.com

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press three times each week, normally Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday unless, you know, stuff happens.

Steve suggests you take his opinions in the spirit of a Jimmy Buffett song: “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.”