QUEEN DEPARTS
24-year-old inside linebacker joins rival Steelers after 1st Pro Bowl season
On the same day the Ravens landed a “King” — former Tennessee Titans star running back Derrick Henry — they watched as inside linebacker Patrick Queen decided to join a bitter division rival.
Queen agreed to a threeyear, $41 million contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers on Tuesday, according to ESPN. The news comes after the start of the NFL’s legal tampering period kicked off Monday and a day before free agents can officially sign with teams.
His departure was not unexpected after Baltimore signed All-Pro inside linebacker Roquan Smith to a five-year, $100 million extension last year, drafted inside linebacker Trenton Simpson in the third round and declined Queen’s fifthyear option in the summer. Still, it’s a blow to a defense that was one of the best in the NFL last season and is facing major changes.
Outside linebackers Jadeveon Clowney and Kyle Van Noy are also free agents, while safety Geno Stone reportedly agreed to a deal Monday with the AFC North rival Cincinnati Bengals and cornerback Ronald Darby to one with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Baltimore also lost its defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, who left to become the Seattle Seahawks’ head coach, and defensive line coach Anthony Weaver, who was hired as the Miami Dolphins’ defensive coordinator, among other staff changes.
Filling the void of Queen, 24, could also be difficult.
Drafted 28th overall out of LSU in 2020, he surpassed his career-high in tackles for a second straight year with 133 this season and added 3 ½ sacks, six pass breakups, an interception, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery, and was selected to his first Pro Bowl. He also proved durable, playing
Ravens have the NFL’s leading rusher at quarterback and running back during that span.
Before the signing, Baltimore had only three running backs on its roster: fifth-year veteran Justice Hill, 2023 undrafted free agent Owen Wright and breakout rookie star Keaton Mitchell, who is only three months removed from a torn ACL.
On Monday, the first day of the NFL’s legal tampering period, other running back options fell by the wayside with several players agreeing to sign elsewhere, including former Raven Gus Edwards, who bolted for the Los Angeles Chargers. Meanwhile, the Ravens waited patiently — as they often do — and made only a few moves that were largely expected.
Last month, they re-signed veteran wide receiver Nelson Agholor to a one-year extension. Last week, they re-signed Pro Bowl selection and secondteam All-Pro defensive tackle Justin Madubuike to a four-year extension worth a reported $98 million. Then early Monday evening, they agreed to a one-year extension with linebacker Malik Harrison, a versatile edge-setting defender whose biggest contributions were on special teams.
But after Saquon Barkley
went to the Philadelphia Eagles, Josh Jacobs went to the Green Bay Packers, Tony Pollard went to the Titans, D’Andre Swift went to the Chicago Bears and Austin Ekeler went to the Washington Commanders, among other moves, the Ravens got their guy.
Henry, whom the Ravens inquired about trading for ahead of last season’s deadline, had 1,167 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns to go with 28 catches for 214 yards last season. He’s topped 1,000 rushing yards in five of the past six seasons; the only exception was 2021, when a broken bone in his foot caused him to miss the final eight games. He still finished with 937 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Despite his age and his prime years likely being behind him, the 6-foot3, 247-pound nine-year veteran is still one of the game’s most bruising runners, ranking eighth among 49 qualifying backs in yards after contact per carry (3.32) in 2023, according to TruMedia. His 3,928 rushing yards after contact over the past five seasons are also 1,000 more than the next closest player, Nick Chubb of the Cleveland Browns. In Henry’s final game last season, he rushed for 153 yards and reached 21.7 mph, according to NextGen Stats.
Still, there are questions about how much longer he’ll be able to maintain his elite form and battering style.
After averaging 5.1 and 5.4 yards per carry in 2019 and 2020, those numbers dipped to 4.3, 4.4 and 4.2 each of the next three seasons, respectively, though that could be attributable to the Titans’ offensive line struggles. Henry has also been durable, missing just one game over the past two seasons.
How he’ll fit in the Ravens’ shotgun-heavy, run-pass option scheme also remains to be seen, but he’ll also perhaps be the greatest running back to wear a Ravens uniform.
Rice, who played six seasons for Baltimore before being released in 2014 after he was seen on video assaulting his then-fiancee, had 6,180 yards on 1,430 carries along with 369 catches for 3,034 yards and scored 43 touchdowns. Lewis, meanwhile, had 7,801 of his 10,607 career rushing yards in Baltimore, including 2,066 in 2003.
What kind of impact Henry can have behind what is expected to be a revamped offensive line and amid a slew of free agent and coaching departures is also a question. But Baltimore’s acquisition of one of the game’s most talented and punishing runners provides plenty of optimism for a team that had the NFL’s best record last season and got within a game of the organization’s first Super Bowl appearance in more than a decade.
It also gives Jackson another explosive weapon in the second year of the Ravens’ revamped offense, which still includes the speedy Mitchell, wide receivers Zay Flowers and Rashod Bateman and tight ends Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely.
Baltimore led the NFL with 2,661 rushing yards last season, though Jackson was the team’s leading rusher — as he has been every year since 2019 — with 821 yards on 148 carries. Adding Henry should lessen the load on the star quarterback.
In Jackson’s six years in Baltimore, Mark Ingram II is the only running back to gain at least 1,000 yards in a season, doing so in 2019 when the Ravens set the NFL single-season rushing yards record.
Henry, meanwhile, ranks 13th all-time with 90 rushing touchdowns, tying him with Hall of Fame running backs Eric Dickerson and Curtis Martin. He’s had one or fewer fumbles in five seasons, including last year when he didn’t have any in his 288 carries.
A native of Yulee, Florida, who rushed for a national-record 12,124 yards in high school, Henry also won the Heisman Trophy in 2015 en route to leading Alabama to the national championship. He was a second-round draft pick by the Titans in 2016.