Was considering that option earlier. Its possible. One thing I saw recently about 5th yr option is that its now fully guaranteed. That is a change in new CBA. The guy who dropped that nugget was opining that made early 2nd round picks a bit more valuable than late 1sts now. I dont know about that. You can always decline the option but regardless the full guarantee changes things. I dont expect them to pick up the option on Queen. EDC at any point couldve said yes or thats likely. He has in the past. Queen also scrubbed his social media of Ravens stuff awhile back. Kinda telling. Hes prob requested a trade. Its an interesting subplot to tonight. Not sure he is worth a 2nd but maybe a 3rd. Or they can just ride out his final year and likely take a nice comp pick for him next year. I think that plays a role too. The draft class this year is thought to be weaker than the projected one next year. What do you need to get back in compensation this year to make it worth losing Queen when youll likelt still recoup a comp pick
They've been fully guaranteed since 2018, basically since the fiasco with RG3.
I think Queen probably doesn't net a 3rd round comp pick. This year you had to lose a guy who signed for over $16M APY to get a 3rd. That'll go up slightly as time goes. Even the 4th/5th round cutoff was around $11M APY. There's more that goes into that than just salary, particularly playing time, but I'd guess that its a 4th we get back for losing Queen, and more likely to be a 5th and a 3rd. And like makoman said, not until a year after he leaves as a FA, so the 2025 draft if you decline the option.
I'm neutral on trading him for a 3rd, could go either way. Would be generally in favor of doing it for a 2nd. Against a 4th.