The Seattle Seahawks have terminated the final year of tight end John Owens' contract, the team announced on Tuesday. Owens signed a two-year, $1.9 million dollar contract with the Seahawks last off-season, and would have earned $850,000 from the Seahawks in 2010. The 6-3, 255-pound tight end from Notre Dame, who entered the NFL as a fifth-round pick (138th overall) by the Detroit Lions in 2002, caught 3 passes for 16 yards during his one season with the Seahawks. Under new offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates, the Seahawks offense will feature more two-tight end sets. Under Mike Holmgren in 2008, and Greg Knapp in 2009, the Seahawks used two-tight end sets on 12% ('08) and 16% ('09) of the offensive snaps. Bates' offense is believed to closely resemble the offense Mike Shanahan ran with the Denver Broncos, where Bates' coached from 2006 through 2008.

Welcome to another edition of Opposition Research, where I’ll be taking a look at the penultimate Packers opponent for the regular season, the Seattle Seahawks.  In light of the holiday season (and the fact that the Seahawks have been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs), news on this match-up has been sparse.  But just because the Seahawks may phone it in this week doesn’t mean that we will, so let’s get started.