Outside linebacker LaMarr Woodley was informed he will be released Tuesday with a June 1 designation, which saves the Pittsburgh Steelers money against the 2014 salary cap.
Cutting Woodley was expected after Jason Worilds, who uprooted Woodley from his left outside linebacker spot last season, was given the transition designation.
Woodley is owed more than $25 million over the next three seasons with more than $13.7 million in prorated bonuses to account for, the type of bookkeeping that has the Steelers sweating every precious cent with free agency beginning.
Releasing Woodley after June 1 allows the Steelers to divide the cap penalty into 2014, rather than absorbing it now. Cutting him before June 1 would have resulted in a $14.2 million cap penalty in so-called dead money.
Safety Troy Polamalu and tight end Heath Miller were on similar footing until signing new contracts with the Steelers last week that reduced their cap figures significantly.
Offensive lineman Levi Brown was released.
Injuries reduced Woodley’s role the past two seasons, and he finished last season on injured reserve. He had 35 sacks from 2008-10 playing opposite James Harrison.
With Worilds on the left side, the Steelers could give 2013 first-round pick Jarvis Jones an audition for an expanded role but will also consider bargain shopping in free agency and look to a solid 2014 draft class that general manager Kevin Colbert called the deepest in his 30 years of scouting.