On the afternoon of June 2, 1998, Vinny Testaverde officially became a salary-cap victim, the Baltimore Ravens turning the starting job over to Jim Harbaugh and releasing the veteran quarterback that day rather than pay his scheduled base salary of $2.5 million for the coming season.

Three weeks later, Testaverde inked a one-year deal with the New York Jets, the contract including a guaranteed base salary of $1.5 million, to serve as the backup to Glenn Foley. That contract, and his subsequent ascent to the starting job, earned Testaverde a place of honor in the fraternity of post-June 1 salary cap casualties.

	Antowain Smith rushed for 1,157 yards and 12 touchdowns last season.

And now, less than two months shy of the start to Testaverde's fifth training camp with the Jets, the 15-year veteran might indeed rate as the all-time June cap survivor. Armed with a new contract, unchallenged as the New York starter assuming his foot is recovered from offseason surgery to remove a tumor, Testaverde is a prime example of the kind of solid players that teams can find in the post-June 1 market.

Unfortunately, for any personnel director so deluded that he believes the final wave of free agency will create a tidal surge for his franchise, Testaverde is one of few examples of late spring salary-cap victims who still enjoyed productive careers.

Recent history has indicated that, with a precious few exceptions like Testaverde, those veterans released after June 1 to provide their franchises salary cap relief are overpriced underachievers with not much left in their gas tanks. Every so often, a contending team is able to sign a veteran player it views as the final piece of the playoff puzzle, but cases like that are the exception to the rule.

When it comes to the post-June 1 cuts, one team's trash characteristically becomes, well, just some other club's junk. By waiting until after June 1 to release a player, teams are able to somewhat ameliorate the impact on the current year's salary cap.

There is no assuaging the salary cap suffering, however, for those teams who regard post-June 1 casualties as a cure-all and overpay to secure their services.

"Everybody treats this (June 1) date like it's supposed to be the equivalent of the second coming of Christmas," said Carolina Panthers personnel director Jack Bushofsky. "I hate to be like the Grinch but, the truth is, there really isn't much under the tree."

In his four-year Jets tenure, Testaverde has appeared in 47 games, and started 46 of them. Those numbers would be higher, of course, if he hadn't suffered a season-ending Achilles injury in the 1999 season opener. Testaverde has completed 857 of 1,467 passes for 9,836 yards, with 66 touchdown passes, 47 interceptions and a passer rating of 80.3. In two of the three years in which Testaverde wasn't injured, New York advanced to the playoffs.

But while those numbers are solid, they don't translate into spectacular, and Testaverde has been a good but not brilliant performer. Even rising to the level of average, though, is better than the majority of post-June 1 refugees achieves.

Most savvy general managers now realize there is no panacea player in the post-June 1 market. It took a while to arrive at that conclusion but, having scrutinized the lists of past June 1 cuts and only the modest ripple they made after signing with a new team, personnel men around the league largely resist the temptation for a late spring shopping spree.

There will be some high-profile veterans released on Monday, when the league waiver wire is reactivated after its typical weekend hiatus, and throughout the month as well. But just because a player has name doesn't mean he's still got game, and general managers had better be judicious in their investments, or they'll throw good money at bad players.

Most of the veterans who will be released in coming days are having contracts terminated for a reason. Simply put, their productivity no longer warrants the size of their paycheck, and the chances are slim that the aging veterans can turn back the clock or happen onto the fountain of youth.

"Go back and check all the 'June 1 guys' who really made a difference," said Arizona general manager Bob Ferguson last week. "You won 't need much more than one hand to count them, I guarantee you, because they aren't the quick fix people think."

The New England Patriots won Super Bowl XXXVI last year, in part because of veterans signed after June 1, but coach Bill Belichick and personnel chief Scott Pioli beat the odds by fitting round pieces into round holes. That is a rarity, since most veterans released in the post-June 1 purge are fairly set in their ways and find transition to a new team and a new system a difficult adjustment.

	“	Everybody treats this (June 1) date like it's supposed to be the equivalent of the second coming of Christmas. I hate to be like the Grinch but, the truth is, there really isn't much under the tree. ”
		— Jack Bushofsky, Panthers personnel

Clearly, the best late spring acquisition by the Patriots last season was tailback Antowain Smith, who provided New England the workhorse inside runner it previously lacked. But the five-year veteran technically wasn't a post-June 1 cap victim, since he was released by the Buffalo Bills a month earlier. Ditto linebacker Micheal Barrow, who helped the New York Giants advance to Super Bowl XXXV in 2000, but who is miscast as a June 1 refugee and was actually cut by Carolina early in the spring.

The top post-June 1 addition in 2001, arguably at least, was Jerry Rice. The all-time NFL receptions leader was released by San Francisco on June 4 and signed a modest, four-year contract with the Oakland Raiders one day later. In terms of staying power, there aren't a lot of players who compare to Testaverde, but one might be Eddie Robinson.

The veteran outside linebacker was released by Jacksonville in August of 1998, signed on with Tennessee, and started for the Titans the ensuing four seasons before he was released earlier this spring for cap considerations.

"If you can get a player after June 1 who just fills a need for one season, it's a pretty big move, really," said Redskins personnel director Vinny Cerrato. "The cases are really rare of guys signing after June 1 and staying productive for more than one or two seasons. The feeling that you can 'get well' with June 1 players is a myth. There's simply not much out there from which to choose."

One reason is that the post-June 1 cuts are mischaracterized now as the "second wave" of free agency. Fact is, the veterans released this month are actually the third stanza of a free-agency system whose timetable has accelerated in recent years.

Because so many franchises had such large salary-cap excesses the past couple springs, they had to make roster moves previously reserved for later in the summer, and so several of the veterans who would have been cut after June 1 were actually released in March. That early spring purge, coupled with the normal start to free agency, represent the first two periods of player movement. This month is now about leftovers, players who could not be freed earlier because of the negative cap ramifications.

There will be a few veterans cut loose, principally at the wide receiver position, who will help some team in 2002. But the number won't be great, nor will the performances, not if recent history holds true.

Paraphrasing the old Latin dictum newspaper headline writers took great glee in using with Testaverde victories in the past: "Veni, vidi, remain."

I came. I saw. I stayed.

Not many post-June 1 acquisitions can make such a claim.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com.