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Another piece of the trade that sent Eli Manning from San Diego to New York has left San Diego.

As expected, the Chargers have released kicker Nate Kaeding.

A third-round pick in 2004, Kaeding converted field goals at a regular-season rate of 87 percent. But he developed a reputation for being less-than-clutch in the postseason.

Kaeding had been pushing the Chargers to cut him before the trade deadline, so that he wouldn’t have to pass through waivers. The move also allows him to double dip, collecting the balance of his $2 million base salary from the Chargers (i.e., $1.05 million) as termination pay, while also pocketing whatever a new team pays him.