Saints release all-time leading receiver Marques Colston

Colston, a seventh-round pick in 2006, holds just about every Saints receiving record with 711 career receptions for 9,759 yards and 72 touchdowns.

The 32-year-old's 13.7 yards-per-reception average is a franchise-high, as are his six 1,000-yard seasons.

Colston, a Super Bowl champion in 2009, set team records in 2007 with 98 receptions for 1,202 yards and 11 touchdowns.

"He is the epitome of a professional in the way that he approaches practice, [all the way] to the game," Saints quarterback Drew Brees said of Colston in late December.

"He is such a calming force and he’s played so much football. He is really able to communicate those things to those guys just in the way that he knows the nuances of the offense.

"I think a lot of the young guys come in and what we do out there is never really the way it’s written on the blackboard."

Colston's productivity has steadily declined since the 2012 season and while the Saints are not strapped for salary-cap space, releasing Colston will clear up $3.2million.