For the second time in less than a week, the Cincinnati Bengals have released one of the longest-tenured veterans on the roster, this time cutting loose free safety Darryl Williams and turning the starting job over to an untested rookie.

A 10-year veteran, Williams played six seasons with the Bengals, in two separate stints. For his career, he has appeared in 156 games and started 137 of them. In six seasons with the Bengals, from 1992-95 and 2000-2001, he appeared in 95 of a possible 96 contests.

Cincinnati last week released nine-year veteran tight end Tony McGee, who quickly signed a three-year contract with the Dallas Cowboys. It could take Williams, 32, a little longer than that to locate new employment, but there will likely be several teams who will pursue the veteran defensive back.

By releasing Williams now, the Bengals will save $1.21 million in salary cap room, the amount of his scheduled base salary for the 2002 season. The team must carry a charge of $333,333 for remaining prorated signing bonus money from the three-year contract that he signed with the club in 2000.

The releases of McGee and Williams have allowed the Bengals to realize a cap savings of about $2.5 million and some of that probably will be used to continue the team's pursuit of free agent quarterback Gus Frerotte.

The demise of Williams in Cincinnati actually began in the second round of the draft, when the Bengals selected Washington State free safety Lamont Thompson in the second round. Earlier this week, when the coaching staff posted the depth chart for a mini-camp that begins Friday, the rookie was listed as the starter at free safety.

Former cornerback Mark Roman, the team's second-round choice in the 2000 draft, will move to free safety to serve as Thompson's backup. The coaches have said that Roman will be afforded the opportunity to compete for the starting job, but there is little doubt that the staff wants Thompson to seize the top spot.

The 41st prospect selected overall two weeks ago, Thompson has great size (6-feet-1 and 220 pounds) and range, and intercepted 24 passes in his college career. The Bengals staff considers him one of the true "value" choices in the entire draft.

"We have a full complement of people at safety and they're all young," owner Mike Brown told the team's Web site following the release of Williams. "They all need practice time. We think they all would end up in front of Darryl at this stage of his career. It's just time to make the move."

Williams rejected a pay cut earlier this spring.

The former University of Miami standout entered the league as Cincinnati's first-round choice in the 1992 draft. He played four season for the Bengals before signing with the Seattle Seahawks as an unrestricted free agent in 1996, and enjoyed his best season there. In 2000, after being released by Seattle, he return to Cincinnati.

Williams has registered 876 tackles, 31 interceptions, 83 passes defensed, 9½ sacks, 10 forced fumbles and 10 recoveries for his career. Bothered by a badly sprained foot last summer, he struggled to rehabilitate in time for the regular season, but was never really at 100 percent. He appeared in 15 games and started one, posting 25 tackes, an interception and 3½ sacks.

Last year marked the first time in his career that Williams failed to start at least a dozen contests. He has started all 16 games in seven different seasons.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com.