Bucs cut CB Alterraun Verner

[Dante84]

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have released a one-time free-agent catch.

NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported the Bucs are cutting corner Alterraun Verner on Thursday. The team later confirmed the move.

The 28-year-old cornerback signed a four-year $25.5 million contract in 2014. With no guaranteed money left on the deal, the Bucs will save the entire $6.5 million salary-cap hit in 2017. Verner was scheduled to count as the fifth-highest hit to the Bucs' cap.

The release makes fiscal and football sense after Verner lost out on a starting spot in the 2016 lineup to rising first-round rookie Vernon Hargreaves. After a dreadful 2015 campaign in which he was benched, Verner started three games last season and saw fewer than 25 snaps in 10 contests. He started just nine games the past two seasons.

The Bucs will move forward with stud corner Brent Grimes and Hargreaves as their primary corners.

Verner will get a jump on free agency and should find teams interested in a veteran with starting experience -- this time at a much lower price.

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