New Orleans Saints general manager Mickey Loomis says the club will release starting defensive end Charles Grant.

Loomis also says the club has released reserve offensive lineman Jamar Nesbit and linebacker Mark Simoneau, who has missed the past two seasons with injuries.

Grant, drafted out of Georgia in 2002, was one of New Orleans' two first-round draft choices that year. Loomis says he'll be released on Friday when free agency begins.

Grant is eighth on the Saints' career sack list with 47 and has started 106 games, including all 16 regular-season games in 2009.

A torn triceps kept him out of the playoffs last season, when the Saints won their first Super Bowl. He also missed part of 2008 with a similar injury.