Queen heads to the Ravens’ biggest rival in the Steelers after a breakout campaign where he tallied 133 tackles, 3.5 sacks and made the Pro Bowl. The deal is worth $41 million and fills a need in the middle of the defense for the Steelers. Queen now gets a chance to lead a defense as he played alongside Roquan Smith for the past two seasons.

â??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,â? DeCosta added. Queen certainly played well last year, but he enters into a walk offseason and the Ravens may not be inclined to offer him a big enough contract to keep him from testing the market if the fifth-year option was too much of an investment. They'll have a few months to make that stated goal a reality before the 2023 season starts. 

Just one day after The Athletic's Jeff Zrebiec said Queen could be "a potential trade candidate", the Ravens further stoked those rumors by declining his fifth-year option. The selection of Clemson linebacker Trenton Simpson with the 86th overall pick, combined with the extension of Roquan Smith has made Queen somewhat expendable heading into 2023. Queen hasn't fully lived up to the expectations that made him the 28th overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, but put together his best year as a professional in 2022. He'll enter 2023 on a prove-it year, in hopes of earning a long-term extension next offseason.

The Ravens picked Trenton Simpson 86th overall in this year's draft, just signed Roquan Smith to a huge extension, and have danced around the idea of whether they will pick up Queen's fifth-year option this offseason. Queen is coming off his best season to date and the Ravens appear to be willing to part with him for the right price, as they offered in Zrebiec's words "no resolution" on Queen's status at their post-draft pressers.