"Exceptional candidates from other areas may also be considered". What does this mean?

Do not filter yourself out. You do not know what the hiring department wants (and they might not know/agree themselves). Just send your application in.

Do not worry about clouding application pool. The application pools are huge, but most applications are dismissed within a minute. As a member of a hiring committee, I prefer to spend an extra minute on one more non-competitive application than miss a chance to hire an excellent colleague who will work side-by-side with me for years.

A lot of schools may not be able to hire someone in the desired area. If they can get a qualified person who will take the money that they are willing to pay, then they count themselves lucky.

I agree with the previous poster. Don't sell yourself short. Give the search committee reasons as to why you would take THAT job. Rise to the challenges of the job you take.