Owings Mills, MD – The Baltimore Ravens trimmed their 2011 man regular-season limit by waiving 25 players on Saturday, with linebacker Tavares Gooden and running back/kick returner Jalen Parmele among the most notable cuts.
Baltimore also released four-year veteran linebacker Prescott Burgess and placed offensive tackle Ramon Harewood on injured reserve for the second consecutive season.
Gooden was a third-round pick by Baltimore in the 2008 draft and started 12 games at inside linebacker in 2009, compiling 47 tackles. The Miami-Florida product was beaten out by Jameel McClain for a starting job prior to last season, however, and managed just 18 tackles in 10 games, all as a reserve.
The 26-year-old had been plagued by injuries for much of his pro career. Gooden missed six games last season due to a dislocated shoulder, and played just four times as a rookie in 2008 before landing on injured reserve with a hip problem.
Parmele, a three-year veteran, served as the Ravens' primary kick returner for much of the 2010 season and averaged 23.4 yards on 24 runbacks for the year. The 25-year-old, who also added seven special teams tackles, had been with Baltimore since being signed off Miami's practice squad in December of 2008.
Burgess was one of the Ravens' top special teams players over the past two years, amassing 17 coverage stops in 2009 and 14 last season.
Harewood, a seventh-round choice of Baltimore in 2010, was placed on IR with torn ankle ligaments that will require surgery. The 6-foot-6, 340-pound project also missed his entire rookie campaign with a knee injury.
The Ravens also waived tight end Davon Drew, a fifth-round pick by the club in 2009 who spent most of last season on the practice squad, as well as wide receivers Brandon Jones, Marcus Smith and James Hardy, quarterback Hunter Cantwell, centers Tim Barnes and Jason Murphy, safeties Mana Silva and Nate Williams, tight end Johdrick Morris, defensive tackles Lamar Divens, Bryan Hall and Derek Simmons, guard Justin Boren, running back Damien Berry, linebackers Josh Bynes and Chavis Williams, cornerbacks Danny Gorrer, Talmadge Jackson and Josh Victorian, fullback Ryan Mahaffey, offensive tackle Andre Ramsey and long snapper Patrick Scales.
Cantwell's release gives the Ravens just two quarterbacks -- starter Joe Flacco and rookie Tyrod Taylor -- on the current active roster.
Jones caught 41 passes for 449 yards and two touchdowns with Tennessee in 2008, but has been appeared in just eight games over the last two seasons.
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