The Pittsburgh Steelers added quite a few new faces in 2024 through both free agency and the draft. QB Russell Wilson highlighted the Steelers’ offensive free agent signings while former Baltimore Ravens LB Patrick Queen led the way on the defense. Other names like S DeShon Elliott featured prominently in 2024 as well.
But who was the best signing by general manager Omar Khan in 2024? And who has the dubious distinction of being the worst? Per Pro Football Focus’ Dalton Wasserman, Wilson was the Steelers’ best signing while Queen was their worst.
“Despite a five-game losing streak to end the Steelers’ season, Russell Wilson was a catalyst to the team’s run to the postseason,” Wasserman wrote. “He earned a solid 77.5 passing grade while being one of the most efficient deep passers in the league. That level of production isn’t bad, considering the Steelers paid just over $1 million for his services.”
And at face value, Wasserman is certainly correct about the Steelers’ return on investment. Russell Wilson finished the regular season with 16 passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns in 11 games. And he reinvigorated a sleepy passing attack early on. He had a two-touchdown performance in his first start with the Steelers against the New York Jets in Week 7. Two weeks later, he threw for a season-high three touchdowns against the Washington Commanders, including a late game-winner to WR Mike Williams. He later matched that three-touchdown performance in a shootout win over the Cincinnati Bengals.
Unfortunately, that all fell apart in the final four weeks of the regular season and in the playoffs. Wilson did throw for six touchdowns over those five games. But he officially turned the ball over five times in that span. Russell Wilson never led the Steelers offense to more than 17 points in any of those games, either. It was a disappointing and frustrating end to the 2024 season. And it will overshadow just how fun he was to watch early on.
And that disappointment at the end of the season is equaled by the disappointment in the signing of Queen.
“Queen was the Steelers’ most expensive free agent signing, but he was among their least productive,” Wasserman wrote. “He earned a 56.8 overall grade, significantly lower than either of his final two seasons in Baltimore. The Steelers will need him to improve next season so they don’t have to rely solely on their stellar defensive line to carry them to success.”
Now, it wasn’t like Queen was absolutely horrible. He finished with 129 combined tackles, the second-most in his career. He broke up seven passes, a career-high, and also had two forced fumbles (tying a career-high) and recovered a fumble.
Queen did have his fewest tackles for a loss (six) and sacks (one) in his career this season, which is a disappointment. But the biggest disappointment won’t show up on a stat sheet.
Queen wore the green dot in his first year with the Steelers. That means he was the communications hub for the defense. And the defense struggled mightily at points to communicate, leading to open receivers across the field. That led to insider Ray Fittipaldo wondering if Queen was the main reason for these lapses in coverage.
Whether it was directly Patrick Queen’s fault or not, the fact that he was relaying play calls and coverages were botched is a big problem. The Steelers will need to figure out a solution in 2025 to help tighten things up defensively. And no doubt the Steelers would love to see Queen get back to his playmaking days. He never had fewer than nine tackles for a loss in a season before 2024.
What is certain is that Patrick Queen will be with the Steelers in 2025 with a chance to improve on his season. What’s much less clear is whether Russell Wilson will be back. Insider Gerry Dulac believes there were issues between Wilson and Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith.
Dulac also believes that QB Justin Fields will be the impending free agent the Steelers will retain, not Wilson. So despite Wasserman ranking Russell Wilson as the best Steelers’ free agent signing and Queen being the worst, it looks like only one of them will be in Pittsburgh next season with the chance to improve on 2024.
