The Oakland Raiders have spent most of the offseason trying to improve their salary cap situation by releasing or restructuring the contracts of veteran players. That salary purge is expected to continue.
According to Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com, the Raiders are planning to release defensive end Tommy Kelly on Wednesday.
The Raiders had already restructure the contracts of guard Mike Brisiel and safety Tyvon Branch and released wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, safety Michael Huff and defensive end Dave Tollefson to help lessen the hit to their salary cap. They’ve tried to restructure the deal for quarterback Carson Palmer without much success.
Kelly still had two years left on his deal and has spent his entire nine-year career with the Raiders. Kelly compiled 45 tackles and just one sack for the Raiders last season. He had racked up 14.5 sacks over the previous two seasons and had been named a Pro Bowl alternate in 2010. Kelly is still likely to attract some interest once he officially hits the free agent market.