In a game you can guarantee will be chippy, Pittsburgh Steelers LB Patrick Queen has good reason to bring an extra edge Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens. Not just because of the gravity of the matchup or even facing his former team but for the unceremonious way his time with the team that drafted him ended.
Speaking to reporters about Sunday’s game, Queen revealed that Baltimore didn’t extend him a contract offer ahead of free agency. He hasn’t spoken with Baltimore brass, head coach John Harbaugh or general manager Eric DeCosta since.
“I wasn’t offered to go back,” he said via 93.7 The Fan Wednesday afternoon. “I don’t know if I said that or not. Put that in public or not. I wasn’t wanted back. I didn’t get offered back. It is definitely kind of upsetting, being there for four years and the bond that you grow with your teammates and stuff.”
Leaving a team that drafted and played you is never easy. But some partings are more amicable than others. In this case, Queen seems to have gotten the cold shoulder from the Ravens. Queen hitting free agency wasn’t a shocker, the team had traded for and paid Roquan Smith and drafted Trenton Simpson to serve as Queen’s replacement, but it doesn’t seem like Queen got so much as a “thank you” from the organization on his way out the door.
Perhaps that’s why Queen was so vocal and threw barbs at Baltimore after signing, still upset over the way he was treated. Maybe that gave him extra motivation to sign with Pittsburgh, guaranteeing the chance at revenge.
Pittsburgh made Patrick Queen its biggest free agent signing in franchise history, inking him to a three-year, $41 million in March, days after the new league year began. Queen has served as the Steelers’ every-down linebacker, missing only one snap all season. That came on the final defensive snap against the New York Jets when Queen was rested, allowing Mark Robinson to log his first defensive play of 2024.
“First few months, you definitely go through those feelings,” Queen said of ill-will toward Baltimore. “And now after playing games, you just wanna win games. You wanna win with your teammates. Your new teammates. You wanna bond with those guys.”
Queen’s playing his best football at the right time. He’s coming off a monster game against the Washington Commanders, leading the team with seven tackles. Two of those went for a loss. He was key in containing QB Jayden Daniels and Pittsburgh’s communication was sound. He’ll have his hands full with the Ravens’ No. 1 scoring offense this weekend, a team that routinely puts up 30-plus points. But Queen knows better than anyone on the Steelers’ defense how the Ravens think and act, making him a key figure to continuing Pittsburgh’s winning streak over Baltimore.
If he can replicate his Week 10 performance and come out on top, he’ll make the Ravens regret their decision to let him land with their biggest rival.
