The Baltimore Ravens have declined the fifth-year option on inside linebacker and former first round pick Patrick Queen, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
Queen was the Ravens’ first-round pick, 28th overall, in the 2020 draft. But his career has been filled with more downs than ups. To his credit, he’s started every game of his career, 50 of them in total, and finished last season with a team-high 117 tackles. But his play has been inconsistent with peaks and valleys, leading the team to trade for Roquan Smith last season and inking him to a long-term deal.
In this year’s draft, the Ravens used their second draft pick to take Clemson ILB Trenton Simpson, 86th overall. Simpson is one of the best athletes in the draft who fell due to position and scheme fit concerns. But getting him in the third is strong value and speaks to the team’s desire to get better at inside linebacker.
Queen is one of several athletic off-ball linebackers who haven’t had as strong of NFL careers as expected. Pittsburgh went through the same with Devin Bush, declining his option last year, in a pick that turned out to be the wrong one. Tampa Bay’s Devin White has been better than both but hasn’t returned the fifth-overall investment the Bucs made in him in 2019. Now, he wants a trade.
Around the AFC North, the Cincinnati Bengals made the obvious decision to pick up their option on QB Joe Burrow. Now, the team will look to work out a long-term, mega contract that should make Burrow the highest-paid quarterback on an annual basis. The Cleveland Browns picked up the option on LT Jedrick Willis, a bit more of a controversial decision. The Steelers, of course, had no such decision to make, trading their 2020 first-round pick for Minkah Fitzpatrick back in 2019. Pittsburgh’s top pick of that class, WR Chase Claypool, was dealt to Chicago last season for the draft pick that turned out to be CB Joey Porter Jr.
