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Six-year veteran defensive lineman Robaire Smith, signed by the Houston Texans just two years ago to be one of the linchpins of the team's defensive line, was released on Sunday as the team continued to tweak its roster in advance of the regular season opener.

Robaire Smith

Defensive End Houston Texans Profile

2005 SEASON STATISTICS Tot Ast Solo FF Sack Int 68 43 25 0 2 0

The move comes as rookie head coach Gary Kubiak continues to put his imprint on a franchise that has won just 18 games in the first four seasons of its existence.

The Texans made a flurry of roster adjustments on Sunday, releasing five players and claiming four more on waivers. But the surprising departure of Smith, who started all 32 games in his two seasons in Houston and who was still listed with the No. 1 unit on the Texans' depth chart, was by far the headline move.

It marks the second time in six weeks that the Texans have jettisoned a big-money acquisition from their 2004 free agency class. Smith, who spent the first four years of his NFL career with the Tennessee Titans, signed a six-year, $26.3 million contract with the Texans on March 4, 2004. Just a few days earlier, the team had signed offensive tackle Todd Wade to a five-year, $25 million deal. Wade was recently released by the Texans, a team that in its brief history has not derived much benefit from its big-money free agent investments.

Smith, 28, now becomes a free agent and can sign with any team in the league. And there figures to be considerable interest in the former Michigan State standout, who has been a starter at tackle in a 4-3 defense and at end in the Texans' 3-4 alignment. Smith started two of the Texans' four preseason games this summer at left tackle.

There was no immediate explanation offered for the release of Smith, but the Texans are moving back to a 4-3 front this year and perhaps the new staff felt he was not a good fit. Certainly, Smith was productive in his only two seasons with the Texans, notching 202 tackles and 4½ sacks in his Houston tenure. He started all 16 games in 2005 and, according to the statistics maintained by the former Houston coaching staff, he had 102 tackles, tied for third most on the team.

In 81 career games, including 49 starts, Smith, who entered the NFL as the Titans' sixth-round pick in the 2000 draft, has 370 tackles and 16 sacks.

In addition to Smith, the Texans released veteran defensive backs Michael Stone and Kevin Garrett, and a pair of rookies, tailback Chris Taylor and wide receiver David Anderson. Claimed on waivers were safety Guss Scott (New England), cornerback Roc Alexander (Denver), wide receiver Edell Shepherd (Tampa Bay) and defensive tackle Atiyyah Ellison (Carolina).

Len Pasquarelli is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com. To check out Len's chat archive, click here .