RENTON, Wash. -- Defensive end Dre’Mont Jones was getting mistaken for Jamal Adams around Seattle even before he signed a megadeal with the Seahawks in March. It first happened in the summer of 2021, when Jones and his Denver Broncos teammates went out to dinner while in town for a preseason game.

“The whole restaurant thought I was Jamal,” Jones recalled with a laugh. “The entire restaurant. It was the craziest thing ever. My teammates were laughing because I’d been getting that for a couple of days. They just really thought I looked like Jamal, apparently.”

In the face -- even if not in build -- the 6-foot-3, 281-pound Jones bears a strong resemblance to Seattle’s strong safety. On the field, the Seahawks need his impact to look a lot like that of another one of their marquee defenders, outside linebacker Uchenna Nwosu. The two share a financial distinction in addition to their common goal of improving the front seven, the team’s biggest weakness in 2022.

Both players -- Jones especially -- broke a trend by breaking the bank with Seattle.

“We usually don’t jump into free agency,” general manager John Schneider told SiriusXM NFL Radio last week. “I mean, we’re in it. But not the investment, like really, really going for it. So Dre’Mont was a big deal for us. Helping our defensive line, penetrator, working edges, getting upfield. He’s done a really nice job.”

To a lesser extent, the Seahawks departed from that free-agency model a year ago when they signed Nwosu away from the Los Angeles Chargers. His two-year, $19.055 million deal carried the biggest annual average of any contract Seattle had given to another team’s free agent since Schneider and coach Pete Carroll took over in 2010.

The previous high mark before Nwosu was the $9 million Seattle gave edge rusher Ezekiel Ansah on his one-year deal in 2019. According to ESPN Stats & Information, the Seahawks were one of only three teams -- the Pittsburgh Steelers and Dallas Cowboys were the others -- whose priciest UFA addition between 2016 and 2021 did not exceed $9 million APY.

So by Seattle’s standards, Nwosu’s original deal was a big one. And it was money well spent.

For all the issues the Seahawks’ defense had up front, Nwosu set career-highs last season in sacks (9.5), quarterback hits (26), forced fumbles (four) and tackles for loss (12) while starting all 17 games. He was arguably Seattle’s defensive MVP and, as Carroll put it, “a perfect Seahawk” on the field and in the locker room.

That’s why they gave him a three-year extension worth $53.01 million right before the start of training camp.

“He’s hard-nosed, tough, smart, diligent, physical, he’s everything,” Carroll said. “He weighed in at 268 coming in; he was in great shape. He’s got a great attitude and you can see why we champion the guy. That’s the guy we want to reward, and he deserved it. He had a fantastic season last year.”

If Nwosu’s first Seattle contract was the Seahawks dipping their toes into the deep end of the free-agent pool, then the Jones signing -- three years, $51.53 million with $30 million guaranteed -- was a cannonball off the high dive. The $17.2 million average ranks 13th among interior defensive linemen, according to Over The Cap.

The deal came together late on the first day of the negotiating window, when the Seahawks typically watch other teams spend big money. They were also in talks that day with another high-priced defensive lineman, Zach Allen, before he signed a three-year, $45.75 million deal with Denver to replace Jones -- which illustrates how intent Seattle was on upgrading that position.

“We had a need, and he jumps right in the middle of it all,” Carroll said of Jones. “We’re really excited about Dre ... We felt like the time was right and the opportunity was there to get a guy that could help us.”

The Seahawks have been starved for an interior defender who can wreak havoc against the run and pass since they traded an aging Michael Bennett in 2018. Their front seven woefully underperformed last season -- Seattle allowed the third-most rushing yards of any team and finished 28th in ESPN’s pass rush win rate -- in part because they didn’t have ideal scheme fits for their transition to a 3-4. They also didn’t have enough difference-makers up front outside of Nwosu.

Enter Jones.

The 2019 third-round pick has been one of the NFL’s most disruptive interior defenders over the last three seasons, with 18.5 sacks, 25 tackles for loss and 32 quarterback hits in that span. He ranked sixth in PRWR (15.9%) among interior defensive linemen last season.

“Playmaking in the backfield and pass rush -- that’s the stuff that’s shown since we started practice,” defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt said early in camp. “He’s just been living in the backfield, so counting on that to continue.”

The 26-year-old Jones has missed 10 games in his career, including the final four last year with a hip injury that didn’t require surgery. So as with any expensive free-agent signing, the Seahawks are taking a risk on Jones. But it’s an understandable one, given his upside and their need for blue-chip talent up front -- especially since they had too many concerns about Jalen Carter to draft him with the fifth overall pick.

Instead, the Seahawks made Jones the centerpiece of their front-seven overhaul. Of the 10 defensive linemen and linebackers who played at least 300 snaps for Seattle last season, six of them were either released or not re-signed.

The Seahawks brought back Bobby Wagner (one year, $5.5 million) to reprise his longtime role at middle linebacker. They also reunited with Jarran Reed (two years, $9 million), who’s set to start at nose tackle in between Jones and free-agent addition Mario Edwards (one year, $1.3 million).

Those deals were more in line with the Seahawks’ usual free-agent spending, unlike their splurge on Jones.

“It’s very humbling and I’m very appreciative to be a part of something different,” Jones said. “I know they don’t normally do that. I’m glad they chose me.”