SEATTLE — “Picture Gate” seems even sillier now.

And that’s saying something.

On April 17, standing at a podium inside the Virginia Mason Athletic Center, Leonard Williams unintentionally ignited the offseason’s most insignificant storyline. The Seahawks’ second-year defensive end commented on how photos depicting many of the franchise’s memorable moments had been removed from a hallway leading to the locker room.

Beast Quake: gone.

Richard Sherman’s tip against the 49ers: gone.

Pete Carroll, John Schneider and Paul Allen accepting the Super Bowl trophy: gone.

On talk shows and social-media sites, alarm sirens sounded.

“I remember the first day we came into the team meeting, [new coach Mike Macdonald] pointed out that there is empty walls in the hallways and things like that,” Williams said at the time. “And I think that made me really excited, and I hope that made the rest of the guys excited.

“Because we are obviously going to respect tradition and the history of the Seahawks, but I think it’s given us a clean foundation to create whatever we want to be. We are not chasing to be like any other team that’s been here before. We want to create our own identity.”

It did not make everyone excited.

Stupidity ensued.

Unsurprisingly, the NFL media machine lurched to life. Some claimed that Macdonald, by redecorating, was simultaneously disrespecting the Seahawks — paving over the franchise’s prideful past. Never mind that almost every other inch of the practice facility, as well as Lumen Field, is buried in a mountain of memories — name plates of every player in franchise history, photos, banners, trophies, framed jerseys, highlight packages playing on loop.

To somewhat summon Allen Iverson’s infamous “practice” rant: we’re talking about a hallway.

(If you were wondering: Schneider introduced the term “Picture Gate” during an interview on 710 AM Seattle Sports on April 18, punctuating the phrase with an appropriately sarcastic smirk.)

The VMAC was, and is, draped in nearly five decades of Seahawks history.

Which made the ensuing bluster A) misguided and B) unnecessary.

That point was further proven during Macdonald’s regular-season debut Sunday, when franchise legend Marshawn Lynch made a comical cameo. Tied 3-3 with 2:41 left in the first quarter of an eventual 26-20 win over Denver, Macdonald received words of encouragement and an unexpected shoulder massage on the sideline.

“Yeah, never had a former player talk to me midgame. It’s pretty cool,” Macdonald smiled and said after the win. “I was like, ‘We have another three quarters to play.’ But just to see those guys around, it’s awesome.

“He’s one of my favorite players of all time. He’s incredible. Yeah, it was funny. It was cool. He came up right behind me. I found myself talking to him as they were taking the field. I was like, ‘Oh shoot, I need a call on first down.’ ”

A day later, the 37-year-old Macdonald added that “it was an awesome moment. It was special. Like I said, Marshawn is embedded in this organization. He plays the way we want to play, point blank. How many massages we’ll welcome moving forward, I don’t know.”

Though in-game massages may not be a common occurrence, Macdonald is by no means burning bridges between eras.

Actually, the opposite.

Take Sherman, who addressed the Seahawks after a training-camp practice Aug. 22. Or Legion of Boom counterpart Kam Chancellor, who attended multiple preseason practices. Or Jim Zorn, who stood on the sideline during a Monday practice last month and shouted encouragement to current quarterback Geno Smith.

“They’re two of the best to ever do it, and they’re our guys,” Macdonald said last month when asked about the importance of Sherman and Chancellor’s presence at practices. “So I mean, let’s be like those guys.”

That certainly doesn’t indicate that Macdonald fails to appreciate his predecessors.

Plus, the Seahawks celebrated their past Sunday with more than a massage. Macdonald met with Lynch and former wide receiver Doug Baldwin on the field during warmups. Steve Largent smiled and waved from the north end zone minutes before kickoff, as 68,714 saluted the finest wide receiver this franchise has seen. While Chancellor raised the 12 flag high above Lumen Field, Macdonald paced the sideline, smiling at no one in particular, an era nearly underway.

Heck, Seattle wore its throwback uniforms — a tangible tribute to Seahawks history — for Macdonald’s debut.

“It is a new era in Seattle,” Baldwin posted on social media Monday. “Mike [Macdonald] is not only a good coach but more importantly, he’s a good leader for those young men. That makes me happy. The @Seahawks got a good one.”

Ultimately, what matters is Macdonald’s ability to win and maximize his talent — to make memories and moments worthy of the wall. But despite an increasingly silly spring storyline, Macdonald has managed to turn a page without burning the rest of the book.

Now, let’s never talk about “Picture Gate” again.

On to the Patriots.

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