Inside linebacker Patrick Queen acknowledged Monday that he was “pissed” when the Ravens declined his fifth-year option, which would have paid him $12.7 million in 2024. The decision means he may be playing his final season in Baltimore.
But Queen sounds at peace with his uncertain future.
“At the end of the day, I get to play football in the National Football League, so that’s a blessing in itself,” Queen said, via Jonas Shaffer of the Baltimore Banner. “I talk to [John Harbaugh] Harbs, talk to [General Manager] Eric [DeCosta]. Everything is good and selling right now. I’m not focused on the contract. I’m just looking to play ball. I mean, at the end of the day, I get to go out here and play football and make my market what I want it to be.”
Queen has improved every single season and now has everything in place to have the kind of year that will net him a massive multi-year contract. He has All-Pro Roquan Smith next to him, a second season under defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald and motivation for a career year.
“I definitely haven’t even gotten close to the surface of the player I can be, and everybody around here knows it,” Queen said. “I think people around the league know it. And that’s why I’m out here just trying to get better, trying to compete, trying to just master my craft. And I think when I do that, I think the whole league’s going to be on notice.”
Harbaugh said Monday that the “sky’s the limit for Patrick.”
“My expectations for Patrick are to have a stellar season, and it’s only been affirmed by the way he’s practiced, the way he’s carried himself,” Harbaugh said. “He’s in a contract year and all that kind of stuff. Sometimes guys get distracted, and he has not been distracted at all. He is locked in on the mission ahead, and you appreciate that. It’s showing up in the way he’s playing every day.”
Queen totaled career highs in tackles (117), sacks (five), quarterback hits (14), interceptions (two) and passes defended (six) last season.
