The Patriots have released veteran linebacker Sione Takitaki, the team announced Wednesday.

Takitaki started four of 11 game appearances last season, his first and only in New England. He finished with 18 tackles.

Takitaki, 29, joined the Patriots last spring on a two-year free-agent deal. He started the season on the Physically Unable to Perform list, then worked his way into the linebacker rotation. Takitaki logged just 194 defensive snaps, less than 30% of the Patriots’ total snaps on defense last season, plus 112 on special teams.

A former third-round pick in Cleveland, Takitaki entered the league in 2019 under a Browns front office that then included Patriots executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf. After taking over the front office last year, Wolf made Takitaki one of his first free-agent signings. The 6-foot-1, 245-pounder signed for a total of $6.65 million, with no guaranteed money in his second seasons.

By cutting Taktaki, the Patriots have created roughly $1.7 million in cap space and taken a $1 million dead cap hit. He leaves behind Ja’Whaun Bentley, Jahlani Tavai, Christian Elliss, Curtis Jacobs and Monty Rice on the team’s off-ball linebacker depth chart.