HEADLINES

Trenton Simpson

Ravens Hoping To Extend LB Patrick Queen

May 9th, 2023 at 10:01pm CST by Sam Robinson

The 2020 first-round contingent collectively brought skepticism from teams over the past week and change. A record-low 12 fifth-year options were exercised. Off-ball linebackers certainly felt this doubt — at least, from a financial perspective — as the teams with linebacker options passed en masse.

Isaiah Simmons, Kenneth Murray, Patrick Queen and Jordyn Brooks saw their options declined, putting each in a contract year. The Seahawks are hoping to regroup with Brooks on an extension, but the Ravens used a third-round pick on Clemson linebacker Trenton Simpson. That selection prompted a Twitter reaction from Queen, who recently saw the Ravens give Roquan Smith a record-setting extension.

Prior to Simpson’s arrival and the Ravens’ decision to decline Queen’s $12.72MM option, a Queen trade rumor emerged. But, even with the $20MM-per-year Smith extension and the team choosing Simpson (Scouts Inc.’s No. 54 overall prospect) 86th overall, Ravens GM Eric DeCosta views Queen as a player the Ravens want beyond his contract year.

“People want to jump to conclusions [and say], ‘Oh [Simpson] is going to replace Patrick,'” DeCosta said during an appearance on The Lounge podcast (via BaltimoreRavens.com’s Ryan Mink). “I can tell you this. Patrick Queen had a hell of a year last year. Patrick Queen is a very talented, in my mind, Pro Bowl-type linebacker. He’s going to have a great year this year.

“We want Patrick Queen on this team; we want to keep him on this team. We will, at some point, try to get him signed, hopefully, to an extension if we can.”

Paying big-ticket contracts to multiple off-ball ‘backers is not exactly a popular roster-building blueprint as of late. The 49ers are the only team with even two ILBs earning at least $8MM on average (Fred Warner, Dre Greenlaw). The Bills paid Matt Milano and let Tremaine Edmunds walk. The Colts did not pay up for Shaquille Leonard sidekick Bobby Okereke. The Eagles let both their three-down ‘backers (T.J. Edwards, Kyzir White) walk. Like Philadelphia, Baltimore now has a monster quarterback contract on its payroll. Unless Queen will be amenable to a midlevel extension, the Ravens’ decisions will make it difficult for him to stay beyond 2023.

Queen and Smith formed a top-end ILB duo last season, and the younger defender totaled a career-high 117 tackles and five sacks to help a Ravens team down Lamar Jackson reach the playoffs. Queen, 23, also finished with two interceptions and a forced fumble. Pro Football Focus viewed Queen as making a significant improvement in 2023, slotting him just outside the top 30 among off-ball ‘backers.

“The fifth-year option was something that was more based on business and the salary cap economics than actually Patrick Queen and his performance and what he does as a player,” DeCosta said. “He’s a difference-maker for us. When we had Patrick Queen and Roquan Smith last year over the last half of the season, we had a chance to see how dominant our defense could be.”

Teams’ recent option decisions could lead to an eventful off-ball linebacker market forming next year. Devin White requested a trade ahead of his fifth-year option slate; he is due for 2024 free agency. So are Logan Wilson and Willie Gay. This year’s market did not prove fruitful for many parties, falling off after Edmunds’ $18MM-per-year Bears accord. Okereke ($10MM AAV) was the only other linebacker to sign a deal averaging north of $7MM.

For 2023, the Ravens have a deep linebacking group; Simpson and former third-rounder Malik Harrison are in place behind the starters. DeCosta said other teams’ decisions led the Ravens to Simpson, who was not necessarily the team’s target in Round 3. The best-available pick could lead to a big-picture decision involving Queen in the near future.

NFL Draft Pick Signings: 5/6/23

May 6th, 2023 at 8:37pm CST by Adam La Rose

A couple teams have carried on the business of signing members of their draft class through the weekend. Here are the latest rookies to ink their four-year deals:

Baltimore Ravens

New York Giants

Draft Rumors: Bears, Jets, Patriots, Titans, Cardinals, Carter, Cowboys, Saints, Browns, Bucs, Jaguars, Ravens

April 5th, 2023 at 10:59am CST by Sam Robinson

Teams on the radar for tackle help will be meeting with one of the top options available. Georgia tackle Broderick Jones has at least four meetings on his pre-draft itinerary. Jones met with the Titans on Tuesday, will visit the Jets today and has his Patriots meeting on tap for Thursday, according to KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson. Each of these teams exited free agency’s early waves with a question mark at one of their two starting tackle positions. The Bears are meeting with Jones, and the Cardinals are also likely to huddle up with the tackle prospect, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler tweets.

Jones played only two full college seasons, redshirting in 2020 and declaring for the draft after his sophomore year with the Bulldogs. Of course, both those campaigns ended with Georgia winning national championships. Jones saw action behind Chargers 2022 draftee Jamaree Salyer in 2021 and took over as the Bulldogs’ full-time left tackle last season, starting all 15 Georgia games. He earned first-team All-SEC recognition for his work. The 6-foot-5 blocker grades as ESPN.com’s No. 24 overall prospect, while NFL.com’s Daniel Jeremiah slots the one-year college starter 19th on his big board.

Here is the latest regarding this year’s draft pool:

  • Like last year, Georgia stands to be well represented in the first round. The top ex-Bulldog available will be Jalen Carter, who has generated increased scrutiny in recent weeks. After the arrest warrant interrupted Carter’s Combine, Albert Breer of SI.com notes teams outside the top 10 begun digging into the high-end defensive tackle prospect. Carter, who will not face jail time in connection with the misdemeanor warrants that arrived in February, does not plan to take visits with teams picking outside the top 10. The teams picking beyond No. 10 look to have expressed increased interest after the charges, which have affected Carter’s stock to a degree. A mediocre pro day did as well. Carter is open to meeting with teams who could trade into the top 10, and Breer adds a Laremy Tunsil-like tumble out of the top 10 should not be ruled out based on some teams’ views.
  • Joining Carter and Jones as first-round-caliber talents, defensive end Nolan Smith is on a few teams’ radars. Jeremiah’s No. 16 overall prospect, Smith met with the Buccaneers on Tuesday and will visit the Ravens and Jaguars later this week, Wilson notes. A torn pectoral muscle limited Smith to eight games in 2022, and he did not top 4.5 sacks in a season with the Bulldogs. But the explosive edge — he of a 4.39-second 40-yard dash at the Combine — is still viewed as a near-certainty to go off the board early. The Bucs and Ravens used first-round choices on an edge in 2021 (Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, Odafe Oweh), while the Jaguars took Georgia edge rusher Travon Walker first overall last year.
  • Tennessee wide receiver Jalin Hyatt visited the Cowboys on Tuesday and is meeting with the Saints today, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport and The Score’s Jordan Schultz report (Twitter links). The Browns also hosted Hyatt this week, CBS Sports’ Josina Anderson tweets. Teaming with QB Hendon Hooker, Hyatt won the Biletnikoff award — given to the Division I-FBS’ top wideout — last season after catching 15 touchdown passes. After not exceeding 300 receiving yards in his first two college seasons, Hyatt broke through for 1,267 in 2022. The slender receiver sits 36th on Jeremiah’s board; Scouts Inc. slots him 44th. The Saints have also met with Hooker.
  • In addition to Hyatt, the Cowboys hosted Trenton Simpson, per Rapoport, who adds a Browns visit is also on tap for the former Clemson linebacker. Simpson started for two seasons at Clemson, pairing 65 tackles with 6.5 sacks as a junior. This is not viewed as a strong off-ball linebacker class. Both Jeremiah and Scouts Inc. rate Simpson as the top ILB available; he appears outside the top 40 on both big boards.

Clemson LB Trenton Simpson Forgoes Senior Year For Draft

December 15th, 2022 at 10:08pm CST by Ely Allen

One of the top draft-eligible linebackers in college football informed media yesterday that he is declaring for the 2023 NFL Draft, according to Pete Thamel of ESPN. Although he is forgoing his senior year of college, Clemson linebacker Trenton Simpson has met his self-appointed goals of playing three years of college ball and earning his degree.

Simpson joined the Tigers’ 2020 recruiting class exactly three years to the date before his draft announcement, becoming one of five five-star athletes to head to Clemson that year. Simpson was considered the top recruit at his position by 247Sports, as well as the No. 12 recruit in the entire country. A standout dual-threat athlete at Mallard Creek HS in Charlotte, NC, Simpson didn’t stray too far from home, heading just across the state’s southern border for college.

Simpson made a quick impact in Death Valley appearing in 12 games as a freshman and making three starts. Simpson showed early dynamism in his first year, recording four sacks and 6.5 tackles for loss despite the limited playing time. Simpson earned a full-time starting job as a sophomore and rewarded his coaches with a breakout season. In a performance that certainly pricked the ears of every NFL scout a year early, Simpson tallied 6.5 sacks, 12.5 tackles for loss, and five quarterback hurries. Despite a muted junior season statistically amongst a position shift inside, Simpson did nothing to turn off scouts with another strong season of play. Over three years on the Clemson defense, Simpson showed his jack-of-all-trades ability with 165 total tackles, 23.0 for a loss, 13.0 sacks, 12 quarterback hurries, five passes defensed, and three forced fumbles.

Simpson is a complete linebacker. He’s aggressive and instinctive as he plays from sideline to sideline. After playing off the edge near the slot in his first two years and excelling, Clemson moved Simpson in the box for his junior year where he showed the league that his coverage abilities make him an extremely valuable asset in this year’s draft.

Simpson is not quite comparable to Cowboys star Micah Parsons, but to call him a poor man’s Parsons takes far too much away Simpson’s game. Like Parsons, Simpson has the do-everything skill set that has created some of the best linebackers in today’s game. Simpson, though, may not have the explosive play-making ability that pushed Parsons into the top 15 picks of the draft. Parsons also had the luxury of sitting out the 2020 COVID-season before being drafted, tantalizing scouts with how he may have progressed in his third year of college ball had he played. Simpson, on the other hand, used his third year to develop new experience on defense that will help him at the next level.

Views on this year’s top draft-eligible linebackers vary. When a group of four evaluators at ESPN ranked the position, Mel Kiper was the only one who did not have Simpson in the top-two alongside Arkansas’s Drew Sanders, placing Simpson at third. Everyone else had him as either first or second. A midseason ranking, provided by Dane Brugler of The Athletic, lists Simpson as the 14th-best draft prospect with Sanders trailing back at 49. A more recent ranking by Michael Renner of Pro Football Focus agreed with Brugler’s early assessment, listing Simpson as the best draft-eligible linebacker at 28 with Sanders trailing at 41. Simpson easily has a claim as the best linebacker prospect who isn’t purely a pass rush specialist.

Predicting where Simpson may end up is quite a difficult task. There are a number of teams around the league that could use a do-it-all linebacker from the Lions to the Patriots to the Commanders, all teams who have picks around the middle of the first round. With Simpson’s prospect rankings ranging from 14-28, he’s expected to be a mid- to late-first-round pick. Only time will narrow that range down. Simpson told ESPN that he “is excited to compete at the NFL combine,” claiming he has a 40-inch vertical jump and can run the 40-yard dash in 4.4 seconds. Strong showings at the combine and Clemson’s Pro Day may solidify his draft stock up near the middle of the first round.

Simpson, who models his game after Parsons and former Clemson star Isaiah Simmons, will hope to continue the success of some of the draft’s recent top linebackers like Jaguars rookie Devin Lloyd, Parsons, and Buccaneers star Devin White before them. After injuring his ankle in the Tigers’ ACC Championship win, Simpson will sit out of this year’s Orange Bowl and prepare for what awaits him in the leadup to this upcoming April.