Just one day after signing veteran Kwamie Lassiter, the San Diego Chargers on Tuesday continued the offseason overhaul of their secondary by releasing safety Rogers Beckett, who started 26 games over the past two seasons.

The move was not totally unexpected, in that the San Diego coaches had not attempted to disguise their displeasure with Beckett's performance in 2002, but still was at least mildly surprising given the fact the former Marshall star is a former second-round draft choice.

Releasing the three-year veteran means that the Chargers have now cut both their starting safeties from 2002. The club earlier in the offseason cut ties with veteran strong safety Rodney Harrison, who subsequently signed with the New England Patriots.

After spending the first three seasons of his career at free safety, Beckett was informed he would be moved to strong safety this year, and that his production would have to improve for him to retain his roster spot. The addition of Lassiter, an eight-year veteran with 24 interceptions in his career, apparently made Beckett expendable in the eyes of Chargers coaches and team officials.

Conventional wisdom had been that Beckett, 26, would at least be in training camp and afforded the opportunity to make the transition to strong safety. The Chargers are likely now to begin the 2003 season with none of the starters from the 2002 opener playing in the same position.

Former cornerback Ryan McNeil is expected to move to free safety and that could mean that Lassiter is used at strong safety now. San Diego used each of its first three choices in this year's draft on defensive backs, including first-round cornerback Sammy Davis. The team's first-round pick in 2002, Quentin Jammer, is also a cornerback and is projected as a full-time starter this year.

Beckett was the 43rd player chosen overall in 2000. In three seasons, he appeared in 48 games and started 29 of them, and posted 167 tackles, two interceptions, nine passes defensed and one sack. He started all 16 games in 2001, and the first 10 contests in '02, then lost his starting job to journeyman Keith Lyle for the balance of the campaign.

He finished the '02 season with 34 tackles, no interceptions, and two passes defensed.

Beckett is subject to 10-day waivers and it is expected there will be some interest from other teams, given his potential and age. The Chargers will save about $525,000 on their 2003 salary cap with his release.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com.