Quote:The Jaguars traded away one member of their defense on Tuesday when they sent defensive end Chris Smith to the Bengals for a 2018 conditional draft choice and they released another one before the day was out.

The team released veteran linebacker Dan Skuta on Tuesday afternoon after two seasons with the team.

Skuta’s release had been discussed at points this offseason as it brings $4.1 million in cap space back to the team and his production in 2016 wasn’t up to that kind of space on the payroll. Skuta had 18 tackles while appearing in 13 games for the team and didn’t make much more of an impact in his first season with the team.

The Jags have Telvin Smith, Paul Posluszny and Myles Jack in position to start at linebacker this year. They also signed Lerentee McCray, Audie Cole and Josh McNary as free agents to provide depth that made it that much easier to move on without Skuta.