Steelers adding Patrick Queen, per source: How will the top LB fit in Pittsburgh?

By The Athletic NFL Staff

2h ago

The Pittsburgh Steelers and linebacker Patrick Queen agreed to a three-year, $41 million deal, a league source confirmed Tuesday.

Queen has spent the first four years of his career with the Baltimore Ravens, who drafted him with the No. 28 pick in 2020. He’s started 67 career games, totaling 454 total tackles, 13.5 sacks, four interceptions and five forced fumbles in that span.

The 24-year-old inside linebacker will join a Steelers linebacking corps that includes Elandon Roberts, Cole Holcomb and Mark Robinson.

Live updates: Free-agent news from across the NFL

FA tracker: New teams and contract details for the top 150 free agents

Best available players: Who’s still on the market?

Grades: Best and worst of free-agent deals

In 2023, the Ravens declined to pick up Queen’s fifth-year option and then drafted Trenton Simpson in the third round. He went on to be named a second-team All-Pro and make his first Pro Bowl team.

Queen was the top-ranked linebacker and No. 17 player in The Athletic’s Randy Mueller’s free agency rankings.

How surprising is this?From the moment when the Ravens traded for Roquan Smith and then made him the highest-paid inside linebacker in the NFL, it seemed highly unlikely that Queen would get a second contract with the team that made him a first-round pick in 2020. The Ravens loved everything about Queen, from his explosiveness on the field to his toughness (he never missed a game in four seasons), to his work ethic.

However, when you’re paying a franchise quarterback, you have to make some tough decisions with the rest of your roster, and it just never was viable for the team to pay big money to two inside linebackers. The Ravens surely hoped that Queen would end up outside the division and not with their biggest rival, but they know the Steelers value similar characteristics in players that they do, so this couldn’t have been a huge surprise. — Jeff Zrebiec, Ravens beat writer

How he fitsThe Steelers have been in the market for an every-down inside linebacker since Ryan Shazier’s career-ending injury in 2017. With Holcomb (last year’s big free-agent signing) and Kwon Alexander coming off serious injuries (Alexander is also a free agent) and Robinson struggling to take the step from special teamer to starter, the need was great at that position. Queen will pair with Roberts and give the Steelers a fourth defensive playmaker alongside Cameron Heyward, T.J. Watt and Minkah Fitzpatrick. — Mark Kaboly, Steelers senior writer

A GM’s scouting reportEven though the Ravens declined to exercise Queen’s option, he makes sense for any scheme and any team. His game is full speed ahead. Whether going downhill to attack a block or laterally to chase a play down, he has been very productive. The downside to his high energy and motor is that he can be out of control and a bit too impulsive at times. As the quarterback of the defense, making calls and adjustments, he will assume a role that the Steelers have been trying to fill for a couple of years now. His age makes the investment easier to swallow. It’s a steep price for an inside linebacker, but Queen’s ability to blitz and get to the QB sets him apart. He should see all three years of this deal. — Randy Mueller, NFL staff writer

2024 impactQueen immediately jumps into the starting lineup and will likely never come off the field. With the Steelers uncertain about Holcomb’s future, Queen gives them peace of mind at the position. When Holcomb returns from a serious knee injury, he will likely join Queen in the starting lineup. Queen has never missed a game in his career and has averaged 114 tackles per season. Last year, he had 133 tackles and made the Pro Bowl, albeit alongside another star linebacker in Roquan Smith. The Steelers were so decimated by injuries at linebacker last year that they pulled three linebackers off the street and played them — Mykal Walker, Myles Jack and Blake Martinez. — Kaboly

HistoryQueen was a first-round pick in the 2020 draft out of LSU and one of the better inside linebackers in the league over the past four years. He became expendable when the Ravens traded for and signed Smith in 2022. The Steelers liked Queen in 2020 but were without a first-round pick due to the trade for Minkah Fitzpatrick trade the year prior. Queen might be remembered most in Pittsburgh for when he said last October that he took it personally when Mike Tomlin told him on the field during his rookie year that he wasn’t a real Raven. Queen said every time he played the Steelers (eight times), he remembered that. — Kaboly

Cap updateThe Steelers went into the day $25 million under the cap with the ability to create twice as much with restructures. Queen will average $14 million per year, well below Spotrac’s projected value ($18 million), but that’s not the true cap impact. The Steelers often structure big contracts with low first-year cap hits. The true impact won’t be known until the full terms of the deal are released. — Kaboly

OutlookThis is a classic Steelers signing — a young free agent (24 years old) whom they liked during the draft process. However, it differed in that general manager Omar Khan gave away the most money to a street free agent in the history of the franchise, surpassing the three-year, $26.5 million deal for guard James Daniels two years ago. Khan has shown over two years of free agency that he is willing to spend big money for top players. Queen solidifies a defense that was already one of the best in the league and now can deal better with run-heavy teams in the AFC North like the Ravens, who just signed Derrick Henry, and the Cleveland Browns with Nick Chubb. — Kaboly

Required reading
NFL free agency rankings 2024: Top 10 players at each position
NFL beat writer mock draft 2024: Trades shake up top 10 picks and QB landscape
NFL GMs, execs mock 2024 NFL Draft’s top 10 picks: Jayden Daniels over Drake Maye?
(Photo: Patrick Smith / Getty Images)