Don’t look now, but the Baltimore Ravens are invading Pittsburgh. The Steelers now have three prominent former members of their division rivals on the roster, all of them on defense. They are taking over—indeed, two of them starters—but they are also embracing the change and doing so together.
The first Ravens player the Steelers added in free agency was signing ILB Patrick Queen. They also signed DeShon Elliott to play strong safety, and later brought in DB Anthony Averett. Though a veteran, Averett tried out at rookie minicamp and earned a contract. He will have to earn a roster spot, but the others are starters.
“I didn’t know [Anthony Averett] was coming here”, Elliott told Missi Matthews for the team’s website about his former Baltimore Ravens teammate. “But then once they said he was trying out, I was like, ‘Oh, yeah. Definitely Ant. Definitely. That speed? We need that speed on the back end’. And plus everything else he comes with. He works his butt off. I think us being here, it definitely made it comfortable for each other, all three of us. It feels good. It feels good to know people that I knew before this”.
Elliott, Queen, and Averett all spent four years with the Ravens. The trio were teammates during the 2020-2021 seasons, Queen’s first two years as a first-round pick. Elliott, drafted a year earlier, left in free agency in 2022, as did Averett.
During the 2020 season, the Ravens boasted the second-ranked scoring defense, finishing seventh in yards allowed. They also finished in the top 10 in takeaways. The 2021 defense, which was riddled with injuries, fared less well. They ranked 19th in scoring and 25th in yards allowed, 29th in takeaways. Elliott tore his biceps and pectoral having played in only six games.
Queen comes in essentially replacing Cole Holcomb, a 2023 free-agent signing coming off a season-ending injury. The former Ravens linebacker, though, is really replacing Ryan Shazier, their last free linebacker whose career ended on the field. The Steelers signed Elliott to start in Keanu Neal’s spot at strong safety, releasing the latter, though they retain Damontae Kazee.
As for Averett, he will have to fight for a spot on the depth chart in the secondary. As a member of the Ravens, he only logged 365 special teams snaps over four years, so he will have to likely work on that and find more ways to contribute.
I’m sure the Steelers didn’t sign Queen and Elliott deliberately as former teammates. However, their prior experience with AFC North football as members of the Ravens is certainly valuable. Of the three players, Queen is the only one who was still with the team last season. Both Elliott and Averett have been elsewhere for two years, so they (unlike berad) have already been cleansed.
