The Dallas Cowboys released Pro Bowl linebacker Greg Ellis, a former first-round draft pick who spent 11 National Football League seasons with the team.

Ellis, 33, played in 162 games for the Cowboys, including 156 as a starter, and ranks eighth in team history with 77 sacks. He totaled 20 1/2 sacks over the past two seasons, including 12 1/2 in 13 games in 2007, when he returned from a ruptured Achilles tendon and was voted the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year.

Ellis didn’t participate in the Cowboys’ offseason activities and owner Jerry Jones said last week that Ellis probably wouldn’t be with the team this year. The Cowboys save $4.15 million in salary cap space for 2009 by releasing him.