He didn’t necessarily want to leave the Baltimore Ravens, but Patrick Queen admitted the team didn’t make him feel wanted. The lack of a credible offer left the inside linebacker selected 28th overall by the Ravens in the 2020 NFL draft feeling hurt.
Queen responded by jumping ship to the Ravens bitter AFC North rivals the Pittsburgh Steelers. He’s now preparing to welcome his former teammates to Heinz Field on Sunday, November 17, but Queen hasn’t forgotten how the Ravens slighted him.
The 25-year-old explained, “I wasn’t wanted back. I didn’t get an offer back. It’s definitely kind of upsetting, being there for four years, the bond that you grow with your teammates. At the end of the day, the first few months, you definitely go through those feelings,” per ESPN’s Brooke Pryor.
Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta choosing to count the pennies remains a debatable decision. Queen wasn’t always the most consistent, but he had eventually developed into a key cog in the league’s toughest defense last season.
He’s versatile and talented, but Queen became a victim of a longstanding franchise policy involving retaining homegrown talent.
Ravens Have History of Not Paying Up
That policy is based on the premise of the Ravens not paying above their own value for a player they know well. Believing Queen would command an inflated contract in free agency motivated the Ravens’ decision not to make him an offer, according to Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic.
He broke down how the Ravens are “notorious for not making ‘save face’ type offers to their own FAs just to say, ‘Well, we tried.’ Again, you can debate whether they should have, but once the Ravens decided Queen would get well more on open market than they had/wanted to pay, they moved on.”
The debate about if the Ravens should have valued Queen more is an interesting one. Especially when the defense is floundering without him.
Baltimore Defense Missing Patrick Queen
Queen wasn’t the sole reason the Ravens led the NFL in scoring defense, sacks and turnovers in 2023. There were many other factors, including the sophisticated pressure schemes called by former defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, who’s now head coach of the Seattle Seahawks.
Macdonald and Queen led a talent exodus that included edge-rusher Jadeveon Clowney jumping to the Carolina Panthers, while interception leader Geno Stone signed with another AFC North rival, the Cincinnati Bengals.
All of these things have conspired to leave this year’s Ravens ranked 25th in points allowed and 27th in yards. They are struggling most in coverage as owners of football’s worst pass defense, allowing 3,146 yards and 22 touchdowns through the air.
Queen was solid in coverage, snatching an interception and limiting opponents to 5.8 yards per target during his final season with the Ravens, per Pro Football Reference. The numbers contrast sharply with those of his replacement, Trenton Simpson, who was tipped for a breakout campaign.
Things aren’t working out that way, with Simpson already surrendering three touchdown passes and allowing a quarterback rating of 120.0. Simpsons’s struggles are being matched by fellow middle linebacker Roquan Smith, who’s giving up 13.9 yards per completion and a 116.7 rating.
There are weaknesses all across a pass defense being humiliated every week, but Queen’s presence is certainly missed. Getting one over on their ex-teammate by snapping a three-game losing skid against the Steelers is the best way for Smith and Co. to change the narrative.