Roquan Smith has hilarious response to Patrick Queen's Steelers departure

The Baltimore Ravens appear to be ready to welcome a new-look team in 2024, as names like Patrick Queen have departed in free agency. Roquan Smith stands alone in a linebacker room that doesn't have a starter alongside him due to Baltimore's ambivalence surrounding second-year player Trenton Simpson.

Queen has certainly been very vocal about his desire to make the Ravens his new rival, as he is relishing the desire to be viewed as a "villain" by the fanbase who once called him the future of the linebacker position. Smith will at least make the loss sting just a bit less, even though he seems to be jokingly perturbed about seeing his buddy leave.

"It's not weird at all," Smith said. "Life happens. He's somewhere else right now. I've got to tear his picture down in the linebacker room...I need to probably make a video of me maybe punching it." Between Smith and Marlon Humphrey, the Ravens seem to be coping with this decision in quite a weird way.

Roquan Smith takes jab at Patrick Queen after leaving Ravens for Steelers

The Queen contract will determine once and for all how much of the former first-round pick's improvement was due to his own performance and how much of it was looking good next to an All-Pro player like Smith, In his first full season with the Ravens, Smith tallied 158 tackles and 1.5 sacks.

The Ravens are placing a ton of faith in Smith as a leader for a relatively inexperienced defense. Bengals DB Geno Stone and Ronald Darby leaving will hurt the secondary, and losing Jadeveon Clowney up front will take some of the spice out of the pass rush. Queen will not be replaced easily.

The Ravens are taking all comers as they try to find a possible succession plan for Queen at inside linebacker. While Simpson may be the nominal starter, the latest buzz seems to hint that Baltimore will give names like Chris Board and Malik Harrison a shot to earn this starting job.

Queen shouldn't be ripped for following the money, as this will likely be his best chance to cash in with a big-money deal. However, some Ravens fans are quite upset that he went over to their hated rival, and that anger won't subside anytime soon.