Faced with the prospect of paying cornerback Donnie Abraham a $500,000 roster bonus Friday, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers opted Thursday evening for savings over secondary stability, with ESPN.com confirming the team chose to release the six-year veteran.

	Abraham

The departure of Abraham, who had more interceptions over the past six seasons than any player in the league, had been rumored for weeks because of the financial implications of the bonus. But his exit leaves Tampa Bay in perilous position at the left cornerback spot since the man who took Abaraham's place in the lineup in 2001, Brian Kelly, is an unrestricted free agent.

"Basically the Bucs told me that they had the cornerback (position) budgeted for a certain amount and that we were too expensive to retain," agent Jack Reale said. "Given what Donnie has meant to the team, it's a little hard to accept, but he'll move on and do well."

Tampa Bay officials have been attempting to trade Abraham for several weeks but most teams knew the Bucs might eventually release him and so backed off. The teams likely to be the most interested are the New York Jets and Indianapolis Colts. The head coaches of both teams, Tony Dungy with the Colts and Herman Edwards in New York, are familiar with Abraham from the time they spent together in Tampa Bay.

Even beyond those two teams, Abraham is almost certain to generate strong interest in the free agent market given his effectiveness on and off the field. One of the league's best cornerbacks, and the only Tampa Bay secondary member who regularly excelled in single coverage, he also was very active in the community during his Bucs tenure.

Abraham, 28, had a cap value of $5.1 million for 2002. The Bucs will save $4.1 million of that, his $3.6 million base salary and the $500,000 roster bonus, but must carry a $1 million charge for the remaining prorated share of a past signing bonus.

The former East Tennessee State standout was selected in the third round of the 1996 draft by the Bucs and, until last season, averaged 14.6 starts per year. He was replaced by Kelly last season and started a career-low five times while appearing in 15 games. Despite his reduced play time, he still had six interceptions and 17 passes defensed, both team highs.

Since he entered the league in 1996, no player can top Abraham's 31 interceptions, a total that represents the franchise record. Twenty of those thefts came over the last three seasons but in five of six seasons Abraham had five or more interceptions.

For his career, he has played in 92 games and started 78 of them. Abraham had 325 tackles, two sacks and 103 passes defensed.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com.