Steelers historic free agent signing explains why he took less money to sign with Pittsburgh
When the Pittsburgh Steelers spent a historic amount of money on free agent LB Patrick Queen in March, many were surprised. Seldom has Pittsburgh made such splash acquisitions, and certainly not for the price tag the Pro Bowler came with. However, according to Queen, Pittsburgh acquired his services for a discount: Queen took less to […]
When the Pittsburgh Steelers spent a historic amount of money on free agent LB Patrick Queen in March, many were surprised.
Seldom has Pittsburgh made such splash acquisitions, and certainly not for the price tag the Pro Bowler came with.
However, according to Queen, Pittsburgh acquired his services for a discount:
Queen took less to sign with Steelers
“From the 15 teams that I was talking to it came down to like five at the end," Queen told Derrick Bell of Steelers now on his YouTube channel, Steelers_DB. "It was five teams in the mix. Some were offering some seventeens ($17 million per year). I had a chance to either go win or a chance to get paid. For me, the difference was like four or five million. I’m looking at like I have never been on a losing team before. I also don’t want to be part of anything being rebuilt because I’m trying to win now."
Queen signed a three-year deal worth $41m, including $13.8m guaranteed and an average annual salary of just over $13.6m, making him the 5th highest-paid inside LB in the league.
And without getting into the weeds, the contact was structured by the Khan artist [Steelers GM Omar Khan] in a way that gives Pittsburgh an easy out after each year of the deal.
But if he plays the way he did in Baltimore last season, the 24-year-old won't be going anywhere, anytime soon.
"Speed is the first thing that comes to mind," said T.J. Watt when asked about Patrick Queen at OTAs last week. "A guy who blows up opposing offenses. We watch a lot of Baltimore film because we play a lot of the same opponents. A lot of the game stunts that he does in the pass rush is something that sticks out to me. I'm just looking forward to getting to know him and getting to learn and hopefully take something away from him to help my game and help us be a better defense."
As former NFL GM Michael Lombardi has reiterated multiple times in my exposure to him, "If you have a slow MIKE, [middle linebacker] you have a slow defense, if you have a fast MIKE, you have a fast defense."
Queen recorded 133 tackles, 6 pass breakups, and 3.5 sacks across 17 starts in 2023, earning Pro Bowl and All-Pro second-team honors.
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