The Pittsburgh Steelers’ largest splash move of free agency so far, at least in size of contract, has been signing ILB Patrick Queen. While it is notable that it is the largest contract that the Steelers have ever given to a free agent, the bigger story is the fact that Queen is defecting from the Baltimore Ravens to join their biggest rival.
Queen seems to be embracing that part of his move. Predictably, one of the first questions of his introductory press conference was about suiting up for his rival.
“In the same division, it’s gonna be weird,” Queen said in a YouTube stream of the press conference on the Steelers’ YouTube channel. “I wanna be that villain. I wanna be that guy, so I’m looking to do some stuff to them.”
Queen has every right to feel a little slighted when it comes to Baltimore. The Ravens drafted him in the first round and then turned around and traded for Roquan Smith. Shortly after Smith’s signing, they gave him a large money extension. To make matters worse, they essentially let him know what their plans were a year early with the drafting of Trenton Simpson in the third round.
Queen’s play on the field in 2023 looked every bit the part of a player who wanted to prove something. He had a career season with 133 total tackles, 84 solo tackles, nine tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, one forced fumble, and one interception. That performance earned him an AP second-team All-Pro selection as well as a trip to the Pro Bowl Games.
Now he will be playing against his former team two times a year, and he seems to welcome the role of being the villain in the eyes of his old fan base. Since Queen was drafted in 2020, the Steelers have gone 7-1 against the Ravens. That is a trend that he will look to continue.
“I think you turn on the film, you see how I’m snarky, I’m always in somebody’s face,” Queen said. “I’m willing to go lay that hat down, be physical, fast, fierce.”
There is a lot of respect between the two organizations, which has been forged through many photo-finish victories or crushing letdowns over the years. No two teams in the NFL play each other as close. Over the last 20 meetings, 15 of them have fended with less than a one-score margin of victory.
But don’t mistake respect for liking each other. When the news broke of Queen signing with the Steelers, longtime Ravens CB Marlon Humphrey admitted that the move hurt via X.
