The Baltimore Ravens are expected to get a fourth-round draft pick in the 2025 NFL Draft as compensation for the Steelers signing away linebacker Patrick Queen last offseason.
According to research and analysis by Over The Cap, the Ravens will get a fourth-round pick for Queen, the second-highest compensation possible for a team losing a free agent.
Queen signed a three-year, $41 million contract with the Steelers last offseason — the highest-paid free agent contract in team history — and then played all but two defensive snaps for the team this season. When a team gains or loses and unrestricted free agent to a multi-year contract, it enters a complicated formula where gains and losses cancel one another out. Salary and snaps played are the two primary factors in determining the value of a compensatory pick for a player.
The Steelers added four countable free agents in Queen, DeShon Elliott, Cordarrelle Patterson and Cameron Johnson, while losing just two in Mason Rudolph and Armon Watts. So with two more free agents gained than lost, the Steelers were not eligible to receive a compensatory pick.
The Ravens, on the other hand, are set to land the maximum of four compensatory picks in this year’s draft class. In fact, they would qualify for seven picks if there wasn’t a maximum of four.
Baltimore lost Queen, guard John Simpson, outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney, safety Geno Stone, guard Kevin Zeitler, cornerback Ronald Darby, wide receiver and kick returner Devin Duvernay and running back Gus Edwards last offseason. They added just one countable free agent in running back Derrick Henry.
In addition to the fourth for Queen, the Ravens are expected to be award a fifth for Jadaveon Clowney and Geno Sonte and a sixth for Zeitler.
Baltimore has a history of gaming the system to add compensatory picks, and they claimed Diontae Johnson on waivers last week for the sole purpose of hoping he signs a countable free agent deal next season.
In 2021, when the Ravens signed tackle Alejandro Villanueva away from the Steelers, they waited until after the deadline for signings to count under the formula, usually in late April, to process the signing, even though it had been reported days earlier.