The Pittsburgh Steelers made ILB Patrick Queen their highest-paid external free agent signing in team history when they signed him to a three-year, $41 million contract in March. Later, after his signing, he got into a social media spat with a fan and revealed that he may have had better offers to play elsewhere but wanted to come to Pittsburgh. During this morning’s episode of Not Just Football with Cameron Heyward, Queen detailed his free agent process and why he ultimately chose the Steelers.
“For me, it was stressful,” Queen said of his process as a free agent. “Going into it, it’s a lot of teams that want you and stuff, and then you get to that point…And then boom, a linebacker signed. Then, the whole market just changed. It’s at that point it go from like 13 teams to five, and the price go from 17 to 15, 13.
“And then you come to the realization that you gotta make a move, and it’s either you go get the money that you want and then suffer the consequences of getting it, or you come to a team, and you take a little bit of a pay cut. So, it was definitely aggravating. I was definitely pissed off…Once I made a decision, it just made sense.”
Fortunately for some, but unfortunately for Queen, in this case, timing is everything in free agency. A player could experience a higher-than-normal market for their position across the league, like what the wide receivers have experienced over the last few years, or you could see your position reduce in value like many safeties and inside linebackers did in 2024.
The linebackers came off the market fast, but the value wasn’t there compared to what Queen was probably worth under normal circumstances. He ended up signing the biggest contract of his peers by a good margin. But based on what he told Heyward, the number of teams interested in him at the higher price started to drop once the market started to become more defined.
Queen signed on the second day of legal tampering. But on day one, Blake Cashman (three-year, $25.5 million), Jordyn Brooks (three-year, $30 million), and Azeez Al-Shaair (three-year, $34 million) all signed sizable contracts to set the market. Queen still came in above them at $13.66 average annual value, but it sounds like his talks started up in the $15 to $17 million range.
Queen is used to that frustrated feeling, like when the Baltimore Ravens declined his fifth-year option last offseason and drafted his replacement shortly after in Trenton Simpson. He went on to make the Pro Bowl and be named to the AP second-team All-Pro list. At just 25 years old, he had his best season with 133 total tackles, nine tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, one forced fumble, one interception, and five pass breakups.
It is rare to find a player that accomplished at just 25 years old. He is barely older than Steelers rookie ILB Payton Wilson, for example.
So why did he ultimately choose Pittsburgh?
“Money talks,” Queen joked. “Nah, it was just the right fit. I know y’all style of football. Know the team, know the guys around y’all. And Mike [Tomlin], it just seemed like the perfect fit. I had all the other offers, and I just don’t feel like it would’ve been the same to go play for them. I think this is where I belong.”
Staying in the division makes his learning curve a bit easier. He knows the style of football that is played in the AFC North, and he knows he has what it takes to play that style of football.
Tomlin continues to be a big pull for players, too. Queen and Tomlin had a history throughout the Steelers-Ravens rivalry the last few years. At one point during his rookie season, Tomlin told Queen he isn’t a Raven. Queen later told the media “it’s something personal” when he plays the Steelers because of that.
Throughout training camp, we learned that Queen loves to talk smack. He boiled his encounters with Tomlin down to that.
“It was just the football talk of stuff and the trash talk and all that stuff,” Queen said. “I always thought he was a good head coach. And just getting to see that in person, it enlarged my view on him and stuff and I just appreciate him a lot.”
Queen has fit right in with the Steelers. He is the quarterback of the defense and will be wearing the green dot. He pairs nicely with Elandon Roberts as two physical linebackers to hold down the middle of the defense. They both like to talk trash, too, so he adds quite a bit of personality to the defense.
In the end, it all worked out.
