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Kansas City Chiefs: With the unit bolstered by an offseason trade and the maturation of some young veterans, the Chiefs have released offensive lineman Marcus Spears.

Spears, 32, has been with the Chiefs since 1997 and the versatile lineman had started at guard and tackle at various times in his tenure with the club.

"By letting him go now," said coach Dick Vermeil, "it enhances his opportunities to get a job, and he will get a job. We've already talked to some teams [for him] and had been toying around with trading him. But other teams [knew] that we eventually might let him go and that they could get him for less [then]."

Indeed, there figure to be several teams interested in adding Spears, a 10-year veteran who is also regarded as a player of high character.

Vermeil and general manager Carl Peterson cited the improvement of young players for creating a tight "numbers game" on what traditionally has been one of the league's top offensive line units. The Chiefs added offensive linemen Brett Williams and Jordan Black in the 2003 draft and Kevin Sampson in this year's lottery.

Kansas City traded for former Philadelphia Eagles starter John Welbourn seven weeks ago and also added former New York Giants starter Chris Bober early in the free agency signing period. The combination of those elements has created considerable competition, and provided great depth, but it also made Spears expendable.

Originally a second-round pick of the Chicago Bears in 1994, Spears played little during his three-year stint with the club, appearing in only nine games. He signed with Kansas City as a free agent in 1997, after spending some time in the Green Bay Packers camp, and his most extensive playing time came in 2001 when he started all 16 games, five at right guard and 11 at right tackle.

For his career, Spears has appeared in 89 games and has 18 starts. He also played for the Amsterdam Admirals of the NFL Europe League in 1996.

San Diego Chargers: For the second time this week, the Chargers have bolstered their offensive line depth with a player who recently completed the NFL Europe season, this time reaching a contract agreement with guard Troy Andrew. Earlier in the week, the Chargers signed offensive tackle Reese Hicks, who played with the Scottish Claymores this spring, to a two-year contract.

Part of NFL Europe's best offensive line unit, with the World Bowl XII champion Berlin Thunder, the versatile Andrew signed a one-year deal. He was named to the league's all-star team for his standout performance this year and, given his previous NFL experience and San Diego's offensive line needs, could have a chance to make the roster.

Andrew, 26, was in camp three times with Miami, and the former Duke standout made the Dolphins regular-season roster in 2001 and 2002, seeing action in nine games.

Indianapolis Colts: The Colts have waived four rookies, all of them undrafted college free agents who had signed with the team in late April or early May.

The four players cut at the conclusion of the team's annual "summer school" sessions were: defensive linemen Jeremy Caudill of Kentucky, Bryan Save of Colorado State, Derek Kennard of Nevada-Reno, and defensive back Daryl Dixon of Florida.

Arguably the most recognizable of the quartet is Kennard, whose father is a former NFL offensive lineman. The younger Kennard started 37 of 45 games in college and, while undersized by league standards, hoped his quickness would make him a good candidate for the Colts' one-gap, upfield style.

The other three players were all three-year starters at their respective universities.

New York Jets: The New York Jets have released running back Kenton Keith (New Mexico State), center Lui Fuata (Hawaii), offensive guard Gerald Sykes (San Diego State) and offensive tackle Brandon Westbrook (Middle Tennessee State) as the team fine-tunes its roster for camp.

All but Fuata had signed with the Jets two months ago as free agents. Fuata signed last spring as an undrafted player but spent his entire rookie season on the reserved/injured list rehabilitating from knee surgery.

Keith spent the 2003 season with the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the CFL, rushing for 709 yards on 102 carries.

Washington Redskins: Still a bit thin on the defensive front, the Redskins have added a pair of linemen fresh off the NFL Europe League season, and whom they hope will be able to contribute in training camp.

The Redskins signed end Darrell Wright and tackle Demetric Evans to what are thought to be minimum-salary contracts. Both players have been in NFL training camps before, know the ropes, and should be able to log enough repetitions to cut the workload of some of the team's defensive line veterans.

Evans had 24 tackles and 2 ½ sacks while playing for the Cologne Centurions during the spring. The former University of Georgia standout spent portions of two seasons with the Dallas Cowboys. Wright signed with Dallas as an undrafted college free agent in 2003 but broke his hand in training camp. With the Frankfurt Galaxy this spring, Wright had 20 tackles and three sacks.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.