THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: As it turns out, the old codger is getting the last laugh in Seattle

Say what?

The Seahawks actually will be engaged in a playoff game this Saturday?

But …

Wasn’t this a rebuilding season?

Seattle started six rookies all year, a number considered something like suicide in the NFL.

On top of that, two of them were offensive tackles trying to keep their quarterback from being mauled, and two more were defensive backs (in a league full of deadly passers and super-athletic receivers).

The ageless Pete Carroll actually should have been renamed Peter Pan, maybe about the time he planned an overhaul of the Seahawks roster as he hit his 71st birthday last September.

What the hell was happening?

Was Pete trying to make a point, after trading away franchise QB Russell Wilson and Hall of Fame linebacker Bobby Wagner — discarding both on March 16?

Or was the evergreen Carroll opting on the fun of a new challenge, totally reconstructing a franchise that Russ and Bobby had led to nine playoff appearances and two Super Bowls since 2012?

Maybe he wanted to see if he could patch together another winning team when it was universally assumed that the Seahawks would struggle.

Or, just collapse.

NO, THAT’S not the case at all.

At least, Pete claims it wasn’t anything personal.

“I didn’t do it for that reason,” he said on his Monday radio show appearance. “I didn’t think I needed a kick in the butt to get fired up.

“But it was a natural challenge. There’s a lot more unknown. That’s what the experienced guys give you, more of the known stuff.

“And as you transition, you have to figure it out. It’s enthralling for me to try to find the ways to make sense to put together what you’ve got to put together — and to match it up right, and try to minimize the false steps and the miscues that get in the way.”

Carroll also has insisted that he believed wholeheartedly in Geno Smith, who was Wilson’s backup for three years and hadn’t been a starter anywhere since 2014.

On Aug. 26, a day the Seattle-area internet nearly exploded and crashed into the sea, Carroll named Smith the Seahawks’ starter.

Thousands, literally thousands, of naysayers called Carroll an idiot — or something even worse.

Loudmouth podcaster Colin Cowherd blasted Pete and the entire franchise, saying bluntly: “You’re awful. You’ll stink.”

Multiple media outlets projected the Hawks as the worst team in the entire NFL, somehow seeing a mess that would leave them looking up at the laughable Houston Texans — and everybody else.

Countless tweets called for Carroll to be dumped on the spot, while even the kindest fans slapped him around for getting left with no one at QB but Smith and perceived flop Drew Lock (who had come aboard in the Wilson trade).

On the eve of the Seahawks’ season opener against Denver and Wilson, their onetime hero, even Seattle’s incredibly loyal fan base feared humiliation.

Twitter was a tsunami of misery.

KentBetz simply tweeted: “Broncos 47-3.”

TristanPratt offered this: “As much as I hate it, can’t say I didn’t call it. Not even remotely surprised. I told y’all we should have fired Pete. Just sayin’…”

AND NOW?

Well, the Seahawks won their final two games, benefitted from a soft schedule (to be honest), and slipped into the final NFC playoff spot when the Lions upset Green Bay at Lambeau Field.

There’s little reason for optimism this weekend, as they face a 49ers juggernaut that has won 10 straight despite being down to their third-string quarterback.

This is a team that hammered the Hawks twice and pressured Smith unmercifully, which very likely will happen again on Saturday.

However, just to back up briefly …

The Broncos did NOT stomp the Hawks on opening night, won just five games, gave Wilson a $250 million extension before they saw him play a single snap, couldn’t wait to fire their coach, have gifted Seattle with the fifth pick in the 2023 draft (plus the fifth again in the second round) along with useful players Noah Fant and Shelby Harris, and …

Find themselves checking every possibility to see how they can unload Russ (and his “legacy”) without having to eat $107 million in dead cap space.

Oh, and the Seahawks?

Carroll actually says he’s disappointed they didn’t win several more games — they could and should have — and Smith is headed to the Pro Bowl after leading the NFL in accuracy and breaking several of Wilson’s club passing records.

“I really think we’re in a good place,” Carroll said.

No kidding.

No matter what happens this weekend down in northern California, the Seahawks have gotten a phenomenal head start on building back toward bona fide title contention.

Making the playoffs and planning to pick fifth in the draft?

That’s the NFL version of a winning lottery ticket.

Email: [email protected]

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press four times each week, normally Tuesday through 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.”

BONUS: Just for reading this far, here’s a nugget …

Feel free to amaze your friends and family around the country (California and elsewhere), simply by sharing the news that we’ve just enjoyed the Mariners and Seahawks making the playoffs in the same year for the first time – not to mention that the Kraken are headed there, too!