Unable to reach a contract renegotiation amenable to both sides, the Denver Broncos complied with the request of weakside linebacker Bill Romanowski and released the 14-year veteran Thursday.

	Romanowski

Agent Tom Condon confirmed his client asked to be freed after deciding he did not want to play in a backup role next season, and the team apprised him Wednesday it would honor the request. The first day that clubs could officially begin purging players from their rosters was Thursday.

Romanowski, 35, seriously considered reconfiguring his contract, essentially by reducing his $2.2 million base salary for 2002 and converting much of it into incentives and bonuses, but his basic competitiveness would not permit him to reconcile accepting a backup job. Broncos coaches want to elevate two-year veteran Ian Gold, a second-round pick in the 2000 draft, to the starter's role.

Romanowski's release will save Denver slightly more than $1 million.

"I wish there was something we could have gotten done to allow me to stay here," Romanowski said. "But at least I'll get an opportunity for another team to say, 'We need somebody like you. You're going to be an integral part of our team trying to win a Super Bowl.' And that's what I want."

A controversial figure at times, particularly when it was alleged last year that he and his wife had illegally obtained prescription drugs, Romanowski played six seasons in Denver and he was an integral component of the Broncos' two Super Bowl championships.

Despite a diminishing skill level, he started all 16 games in 2001 and finished with 69 tackles, seven sacks, two forced fumbles and two passes defensed. Gold, 23, is regarded as a much more athletic player and the Broncos want to see if the special teams prowess he demonstrated during his first two seasons translates into productivity while playing from scrimmage.

There is a slight chance that Romanowski could return to the Broncos if he finds the free agent market blunted, but neither side believes that will occur. "He feels like there will be a team out there that values him as a starter," Condon said.

While most personnel directors agree Romanowski has slipped considerably the past two or three years, he remains a savvy and durable player.

"The bottom line is, I know I can still play," Romanowski said. "I proved that this past year and I know there are other teams that saw the way I played. They see the film. They know what I can do. Because this is all about playing. It's not about the money. It's about not coming off the field."

The former Boston College star, viewed by some as a cheap-shot artist but universally admired by teammates, has played with three different teams: San Francisco (1988-93), Philadelphia (1994-95) and Denver (1996-2001). He played in the 1996 and '98 Pro Bowl games.

For his career, Romanowski has appeared in 224 games with 203 starts, and has 1,007 tackles, 33½ sacks, 17 interceptions, 16 forced fumbles and 73 passes defensed.

Romanowski was one of the most beloved and despised players in Denver. Most fans loved him for his bone-crushing, game-changing hits against then-Carolina quarterback Kerry Collins in the 1997 preseason, Atlanta quarterback Chris Chandler in the 1999 Super Bowl and Oakland quarterback Rich Gannon last season.

But a smaller number detested Romanowski for spitting in the face of San Francisco wide receiver J.J. Stokes and being accused of illegally obtaining a weight-loss supplement.

"While Bill may have been viewed in some circles as a controversial figure, those people did not know the real Bill Romanowski," said Romanowski's lawyer, Harvey Steinberg, who watched a jury clear his client of all wrongdoing last June.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.