Steelers Now
Steelers linebacker Patrick Queen has been named the team’s worst free-agent signing, despite leading Pittsburgh in tackles this season.
The Pittsburgh Steelers signed linebacker Patrick Queen in the offseason to be a difference maker on the second level of their defense, and he was for the most part as he led the team with 129 tackles in 2024. That hasn’t stopped Pro Football Focus from tabbing Queen as the Steelers worst signing in the 2024 free agency cycle, though.
“Queen was the Steelers’ most expensive free agent signing, but he was among their least productive,” PFF’s Dalton Wasserman writes. “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.”
Queen may not have had the same success he had when he played with the Ravens, but he also wasn’t playing next to three-time All-Pro linebacker Roquan Smith. The Steelers signed Queen to be their green-dot linebacker and he upgraded that position by a lot.
It may have taken the biggest free-agent contract the Steelers have ever given (three years, $41 million) to land him, but it was a move that felt necessary after an injury-riddled 2023 season.
That may not be PFF’s most head-scratching decision, either. It also named quarterback Russell Wilson as the Steelers best free-agent signing.
“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 writes. “He earned a solid 77.5 passing grade while being one of the most effective deep passers in the league. That level of production isn’t bad, considering the Steelers paid just over $1 million for his services.”
Wilson joined the Steelers for the veteran minimum (about $1.2 million), but they still ended the season how they have for most of the past seven years — a first-round exit in the playoffs.
The 36-year-old quarterback played a large role in Pittsburgh’s five-game losing streak to end the season, despite starting the year off hot. So the Steelers shouldn’t entertain bringing him back. As for Queen, he shouldn’t be going anywhere.
