THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: It's worth it for Seahawks to play waiting game on Jimmy G

The Seahawks are famous for sharing almost nothing.

It’s easier to get leaks from the CIA.

Pete Carroll and GM John Schneider tell us what they’d like us to believe — and sometimes it turns out to be true.

But maybe not.

I’m mentioning this today, because …

Well, let’s back up a minute.

When Pete and John traded future Hall of Famer Russell Wilson to Denver, they swore up and down that they had incredible faith in their presumed new QB1, Drew Lock — who was an outright failure with the Broncos.

For good measure, Pete reminded everyone how much he admires Geno Smith, the three-season Hawks backup who hasn’t won a full-time job in seven years.

Now, about today …

Or rather, this week.

The Seahawks begin preseason camp on Wednesday, and coincidentally (or not), the 49ers gave Jimmy Garoppolo’s agents permission to seek a trade just four days ago.

With these events happening so close together, enough emails came pouring in from Seahawks junkies that my poor laptop almost exploded.

I’m just a teeny bit afraid of being electrocuted.

LOOK, IT makes sense.

No, not my execution, thanks.

We’re looking at the Seahawks, who seem on track to rebuild a pretty salty football team.

Almost no one, though, expects them to factor in this year’s playoff picture, not with quarterbacks Lock and Smith (sounds like they’d be more help if you lost your house keys).

People who study such thing — you know, in the wee hours of the night — insist that Seattle had a terrific draft. Plus, the Hawks added tight end Noah Fant and defensive tackle Shelby Harris in the trade with Denver, along with snagging pass rusher Uchenna Nwosu in free agency.

So, let’s say you toss Garoppolo into the mix, then what?

We’ll try to answer that question shortly, but first, the Seahawks have some in-house thoughts on this — which is why I needed to mention how well they keep secrets.

Most fans will roll their eyes at this, but Carroll and Schneider may NOT be looking for a quarterback who has taken the 49ers to a couple of NFC title games and a Super Bowl.
 At least, not this quarterback.

My sneaky suspicion is that Carroll believes, in his heart of hearts, that great teams create star QBs — and not the other way around.

Pete may feel, as Richard Sherman once screamed out loud, that Seattle’s talent over most of the past decade actually made Wilson look better than his actual performance level.

Certainly, Pete has said often enough that you win football games by possessing the ball, running it like street bullies, playing takeaway defense, and adding excellent special teams.

He has never hinted that a special quarterback can just haul you to the Super Bowl.

Now, add Schneider’s input to this …

John is famous for “falling in love” with college QBs prior to the draft.

He loved Patrick Mahomes.

Josh Allen.

Justin Herbert.

And, yes, Drew Lock.

Put those two oddly disparate thoughts together in the Seahawks war room, and you may come to the conclusion that Seattle isn’t looking for an upgrade at quarterback.

Feel depressed if you must, but as Pete often says: “We know what we’re doing.”

LET’S SAY, just to make you all feel better, that Carroll and Schneider do quietly covet Garoppolo.

Jimmy’s agents no doubt will have contacted them, but there are some roadblocks.

Garoppolo is coming off surgery on his throwing shoulder, and doesn’t expect clearance to begin heaving the ball around until mid-August.

He’s also due roughly $27 million in salary, a cap hit that Hawks can’t absorb at the moment.

Thus, Seattle would have to manipulate the roster, or the 49ers could agree to pick up a meaningful share of that last contract year.

We’re assuming here that San Francisco would be willing to deal with a rival in the NFC West — but with Houston and Miami the only other potential bidders on the horizon, the 49ers might have no choice.

Remember, now, that the Seahawks have two first- and two second-round picks in next year’s draft, so if they’re willing to wait a year …

They wouldn’t have to make any commitment to Garoppolo, who will want elite-QB money starting in 2023 — assuming he came to Seattle and had one season of success.

OK, back to the possibility that Pete and John DO think Garoppolo could help push Seattle into the playoffs this year.

Unless they’re desperate (they aren’t), they can wait in the weeds until Aug. 30.

If the 49ers haven’t made a deal by then, they would really need Jimmy G off the roster, because they’d have to release him or pay him — and THEN you might see the Seahawks pounce.

It’s not as impossible as it seems.

But you’d hardly call it a cinch.

Email: [email protected]

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press three times each week. He also writes Zags Tracker, a commentary on Gonzaga basketball which is published monthly during the offseason, and weekly beginning in October.

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