Ravens Eye Patrick Queen Contract Extension After Declining 5th-Year Option, GM Says

Baltimore Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta doesn't want fans making assumptions about linebacker Patrick Queen's long-term status with the team.

During an appearance on The Lounge podcast (h/t Ryan Mink of the team's official website), DeCosta explained the team wants to sign Queen to a contract extension even after inking a notable deal with linebacker Roquan Smith and drafting linebacker Trenton Simpson.

"People want to jump to conclusions [and say], 'Oh [Simpson] is going to replace Patrick,'" DeCosta said. "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."

Despite DeCosta's comments, the Ravens' actions haven't exactly suggested they see Queen as a key part of the defense moving into the future.

They acquired Smith from the Chicago Bears via trade last season and then agreed to a five-year, $100 million contract that made him the league's highest-paid off-ball linebacker in January. Then they drafted Simpson out of Clemson with a third-round pick.

Most notably, Baltimore declined the fifth-year option on Queen's contract that was set to pay him $12.7 million in 2024. That, more than the other moves, put his long-term future into doubt.

Still, DeCosta had an explanation.

"The fifth-year option was something that was more based on business and the salary-cap economics than actually Patrick Queen and his performance and what he does as a player," he said.

While signing the LSU product to a significant deal would be committing a large amount of money to the linebacker position when combined with the Smith contract, he is coming off a career-best season.

Queen finished the 2022 campaign with 117 tackles, six passes defended, five sacks, two interceptions, two fumble recoveries and one forced fumble. He is also just 23 years old and figures to remain productive for the foreseeable future, so keeping him in the fold would make some sense from that perspective.

It seems like that is the plan given DeCosta's comments, even if Baltimore hasn't exactly behaved like a team jumping at the chance to reach a new contract.