Why Ravens' rookie makes Pro Bowl defender expendable

The Baltimore Ravens (13-4) sat most of their starters in Week 18 after locking up the No. 1 seed in the AFC. It allowed them to get an extended look at some of their young players and made one of the team's best defenders expendable.

LB Trenton Simpson, Baltimore's third-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, recorded his first career sack, seven tackles and two tackles for a loss in Saturday's regular-season finale against the Steelers (10-7).

The rookie linebacker had just six tackles the rest of the year, which is why it was so important for the team to see what it had in the 22-year-old. It's safe to say head coach John Harbaugh wasn't disappointed.

"He played really well. He flew around, made tackles [and] played a very good football game," Harbaugh said after the game. "[I'm] very excited for the way he played."

Of course, you can't judge a player off one game, but Simpson's promising play could make it a little bit easier to move on from Pro Bowl LB Patrick Queen this offseason.

Queen, a first-round pick by the Ravens in 2020, is set to become a free agent following this season and is expected to receive a big payday. A five-year, $92.64 million contract to be exact, according to Spotrac.

He is still just 24 and is coming off maybe his best season yet where he totaled 133 tackles, 3.5 sacks, one forced fumble, one interception and six passes defensed. Queen also led the league in pressure rate (25.5 percent) among linebackers with 100-plus pass-rush snaps this season, per Next Gen Stats.

In a perfect world with no salary cap, Baltimore would want Queen to return. But after giving QB Lamar Jackson a massive five-year, $260 million contract extension last offseason, there's far less money to go around, and Simpson provides a much cheaper option.

For Simpson, however, he was just excited to get some extended playing time and is now even more excited for what the future holds.

"I'm just so blessed with the opportunity to go out there and be able to showcase my talents today – just staying patient and trusting the process," Simpson said. "To go out there today and make a couple plays for the team, I feel like I'm headed in the right direction, for sure."