The Baltimore Ravens recently declined the fifth-year option for linebacker Patrick Queen, which usually means the team is already looking toward a future without that player on the roster.
However, these situations can also be an opportunity for a player like Queen to prove his worth before the team can simply part ways after the upcoming season.
The 2023 campaign will be incredibly important for Queen and his future with the team, which isn’t written in stone, as general manager Eric DeCosta makes clear via Nick Shook of NFL.com.
“People want to jump to conclusions and say], ‘Oh [Simpson] is going to replace Patrick,'” DeCosta said during an appearance on the Ravens’ [The Lounge Podcast. “I can tell you this. Patrick Queen had a helluva year last year. Patrick Queen is a very talented, in my mind, Pro Bowl-type linebacker. He’s going to have a great year this year.
“We want Patrick Queen on this team; we want to keep him on this team. We will, at some point, try to get him signed, hopefully, to an extension if we can.”
All the pressure will be on Queen in 2023 in what will be a prove-it season for the linebacker, and it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that he can show the team he’s worth a lucrative extension.
Ironically enough, Queen is coming off arguably the best of the three seasons he’s played in Baltimore, and he will be highly motivated to top that season in 2023.
In 17 games in the 2022 NFL season, Queen recorded 117 combined tackles, 5.0 sacks, six passes defended, and two interceptions.
Fortunately for Queen, even if the Ravens ultimately decide not to sign him to a lucrative extension, another NFL team will almost certainly swoop in and give the LSU product what he wants.
The Ravens will be an exciting team to watch next season, with superstar quarterback Lamar Jackson back in the fold and a lot of expectations for the team to become a legitimate Super Bowl title contender in the years to come.
The situation with Queen only makes things that much more interesting in Baltimore.
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