CRM Products Will Not Delete...How do i fix this?

CRM Products Will Not Delete...How do i fix this?

I am trying to clean up the products portion of CRM. I have many unused products that are cluttering up my products list. I also have the new line of products coming out in january and i will need to update all of them again at that point. I am getting a message that says "selected products cannot be deleted as they are involved in inventory management(quote/sales order/purchase order/invoice)"

i can only assume this message is saying they cannot be deleted because they are associated with other sales orders or quotes. how can i make these products unrelated to the sales orders/quotes etc so that i can delete the products?

Any help will be greatly appreciated.