The Jacksonville Jaguars announced Thursday that they have released veteran defensive end Aaron Kampman.
Kampman had 9.5 sacks in 2008 and recorded 3.5 sacks before suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee midway through the 2009 season -- his last with the Packers.
Despite the knee injury, Kampman signed a four-year, $25 million contract with the Jaguars. He had four sacks in eight games in 2010 before again tearing an ACL -- this time in his right knee. That injury, along with a hamstring issue, limited Kampman to a few dozen snaps in three games last season before he was placed on injured reserve Dec. 9.
The Jaguars braced for Kampman's release when they re-signed defensive end Jeremy Mincey to a four-year, $20 million contract in March and used the 38th overall pick in the 2012 draft on Clemson defensive end Andre Branch.
By releasing Kampman, the Jaguars will save the $11.45 million in base salary that remained on the final two seasons of his contract, including his $4.975 million base salary in 2012. The latter figure also represents the amount of cap space the Jaguars will save by releasing the defensive end. As a post-June 1 cut, the Jaguars also can split the $5 million in remaining signing bonus proration over the next two seasons.
