The Ravens have waived 27-year old linebacker Prescott Burgess with an injury settlement.  He has a torn abdominal muscle.  Burgess played in 3 games for the Ravens this year and he had 3 tackles.  Burgess has now played in 40 games in his first four years with the Ravens and he has 38 tackles.  This isn’t much of a loss for the Ravens as Burgess wasn’t likely to be ready to play any time soon.

The Ravens have claimed 23-year old CB Emanuel Cook off waivers from the New York Jets.  Cook played in 8 games for the Ravens this year and he had 3 tackles.  He has now played in 12 games in his first two years in the NFL and he has 8 tackles and 1 forced fumble.  The Ravens waived 22-year old LB Josh Bynes to make room on the roster for Cook.  Bynes played in 1 game for the Ravens this year without making any tackles.  He won’t miss missed.

The Ravens have waived 27-year old C/G Bryan Mattison.  Mattison played in 8 games (0 starts) for the Ravens this year.  He played in 10 games (0 starts) in his two years with the Ravens.  He will likely be on speed dial for the Ravens in case they have any injuries along the offensive line the rest of the year.

UPDATE:  (11/25/2011) – Bryan Mattison made it through waivers and the Ravens put him on the practice squad.  But, that was short lived as the Rams signed him off the Ravens’ practice squad.

The Baltimore Ravens have waived 25-year old linebacker Jason Phillips.  Phillips played in 9 games for the Ravens as a rookie last season and he had 5 tackles.  This might hurt the special teams of the Ravens a little bit, but they should be able to cover for his loss at LB.  The Ravens should be o.k. without Phillips.

The Ravens have released 26-year old Tavares Gooden and 27-year old Prescott Burgess.  Gooden played in 10 games for the Ravens last year and he had 18 tackles and 1 tackle for a loss.  In his three years with the Ravens, Gooden played in 26 games in which he had 70 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss and 1 pass defensed.  Burgess played in all 16 games for the Ravens last year and he had 14 tackles.  He played in 37 games in his three years with the Ravens and he had 35 tackles.  The Ravens decided it was time to move on at LB and on special teams which led to the releases of Gooden and Burgess.

The Ravens have waived 27-year old T/G Oniel Cousins and 26-year old WR Justin Harper.  Cousins played in all 16 games (1 start) for the Ravens last year.  He played in 25 games (4 starts) in his first three years with the Ravens.  Harper only played in 2 games (o starts) in his three years with the Ravens and he didn’t catch any passes.  The Ravens shouldn’t miss either of these guys in 2011 or down the road.

The Ravens have released 31-year old fullback Jason McKie.  The handwriting was on the wall for McKie after the Ravens signed free agent fullback Vonta Leach.  McKie didn’t get into any games last year for the Ravens.  He has played in 88 games (47 starts) in his first 8 years in the NFL and he has carried the ball 29 times for 84 yards (2.9 ypc) with 3 TD runs.  McKie has also caught 68 passes for 364 yards (5.4 avg) with 3 TD grabs in his NFL career.  The Ravens won’t miss McKie at all this year.

The Ravens have released 34-year old DT Kelly Gregg.  Gregg played in 16 games for the Ravens last year and he had 38 tackles including 1 tackle for a loss.  Gregg played in 134 games in his 9 years with the Ravens and he had 510 tackles, 34 tackles for a loss, 19.5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, he recovered 6 fumbles and he defensed 9 passes.  The Ravens want to get younger at DT and Gregg seemed to lose a bit performance wise last year.

The Ravens have released 29-year old running back Willis McGahee.  McGahee played in 15 games (all starts) for the Ravens last year and he carried the ball 100 times for 380 yards (3.8 ypc) with 5 TD grabs.  He also caught 14 passes for 55 yards (3.9 avg) with 1 TD grab last year.  McGahee played in 59 games (26 starts) in his four years with the Ravens and he carried  the ball 673 times for 2,802 yards (4.2 ypc) with 31 TD runs.  He also caught 96 passes for 544 yards (5.7 avg) with 4 TD grabs with the Ravens.  McGahee made it to 1 Pro Bowl with the Ravens and he is the franchise’s #3 rusher with 2,802 yards.  He is also #2 in rushing TDs (31) and he’s #14 in receptions (96) in team history.  The Ravens will have a shiny new backup RB for Ray Rice in 2011.

The Ravens have released 37-year old WR Derrick Mason.  Mason played in 16 games (15 starts) for the Ravens last year and he caught 61 passes for 802 yards (13.1 avg) with 7 TD grabs.  He played in 96 games (94 starts) in his six years with the Ravens and he caught 471 passes for 5,777 yards (12.3 avg) with 29 TD grabs.  Mason is the Ravens’ all-time leader in both receptions (471) and receiving yards (5,777).  Mason is also #2 in TD grabs with 29 in Ravens’ history.  Mason was a warrior for the Ravens as he had no fear over the middle and he had a great set of hands.