THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: No clue on Seahawks for this year's draft

Trying to figure out the Seahawks’ plans?

You might as well spend some time with that popular old board game, “Clue.”

You know, Professor Carroll in the library with a candlestick?

Or …

Colonel Schneider in the kitchen with a meat cleaver?

Okay, I’m having some fun here, but there really is some mystery going on with the Hawks’ vision for the future – starting with this coming season.

What Pete Carroll and GM John Schneider are seeing in the very near term is baffling.

It really feels like they have something cooking, even if we’re all struggling to figure out exactly how it might all come together.

I mean, just a few days ago, the Bears traded the No. 1 overall pick in April’s draft to Carolina, receiving roughly a thousand draft picks and outstanding wide receiver DJ Moore.

The Panthers leaped from the ninth pick in the first round all the way to the top, making it blindingly obvious that they believe there’s a franchise quarterback waiting for them.

With Carolina now at No. 1, there are three QB-needy teams (Panthers, Texans and Colts) now selecting ahead of the Seahawks at No. 5.

THEN ON Tuesday, Seattle made a truly stunning move.

Going against all previous operation models, the Hawks spent $51 million — with $40 million guaranteed — on former Broncos defensive tackle Dre’Mont Jones.

Jones is 6-3, 281 pounds and, coming mostly from the interior, logged 6 1/2 sacks for the Broncos in 2022, with 47 total tackles, nine tackles for loss and 10 quarterback hits in 13 games.

(Feel free to insert your own joke about Denver being the gift that keeps on giving …)

Seriously, just how surprising was landing the 26-year-old Jones — a true disrupter who can play different positions along the line — for that kind of money?

Well, it’s the most Seattle has spent on a single free agent in more than a decade.

Tossing out that sort of cash during the first couple days of the NFL’s “legal tampering” period has never been part of the Carroll-Schneider playbook.

Sure, Pete and John have said several times that they HAVE to shore up a sieve-like front seven on defense — which was hardly a secret since the Seahawks were 25th in points allowed and 26th in average yards leaked per game a year ago.

Hawks fans, though, know all about the club’s level of spending — especially in the early, competitive stage of free agency.

It’s simply not their game.

EVERYONE has been assuming that the Seahawks would address their problem positions (defensive line and inside linebacker, center, guard, corner) through the draft.

Seattle has five picks inside the first hundred, including Nos. 5 and 20 in the first round.

Among the dozens of mock drafts floating around, the Hawks have been linked with edge rusher Tyree Wilson from Texas Tech with that fifth selection, perhaps guard O’Cyrus Torrence (Florida) with the 20th pick, and then various centers, linebackers and more edge rushers in later rounds.

Carroll and Schneider generally have also been clever at adding lower-priced free agents for specific areas well after the draft.

Meanwhile …

There have been whispers around the league that Seattle might take a quarterback with that fifth pick — if Carroll and Schneider have a specific target in mind.

It’s worth noting that Geno Smith’s three-year extension actually only locks up the Hawks for one season, so if they found the guy they’re seeking …

There might be a shocker at No. 5.

WE CAN talk about the various quarterbacks and where each might land on another day, but for now, what’s crucial to grasp is that the Seahawks have given themselves all sorts of room to maneuver by signing Dre’Mont Jones.

Since the Bears-Panthers trade, it’s been a common belief that after three QBs were gobbled up (Arizona at No. 3 has Kyler Murray and will go for defense), the Hawks MUST take an impact D-lineman with that initial pick.

On Tuesday afternoon, Seattle was reported to have signed defensive tackle Jarran Reed, who played for the Seahawks from 2016 to 2020, before spending 2021 with Kansas City and 2022 with Green Bay.

In fact, most national sources have been insisting that (assuming legal and character issues are cleared) Seattle will select Georgia’s Jalen Carter — perhaps the best overall player in the draft.

But now?

With Jones on board and Smith locked in at QB (but not forever), Carroll and Schneider can go in any direction that their talent evaluation takes them.

For instance, Carter could pair with Jones and basically solve the defensive line issue in a couple of quick swoops.

Or they could add to the edge rushing of Uchenna Nwosu and Darrell Taylor with Wilson, or maybe Clemson’s gifted Myles Murphy.

Or …

Yep, they could snag a QB (if it’s the one they want), and continue working on defense at pick No. 20. Anthony Richardson, anyone?

Suddenly …

It seems draft night is going to be a hoot.

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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.”