Russell Wilson's Steelers make massive free agency splash, prise Patrick Queen away from Ravens
The Pittsburgh Steelers have been busy in free agency, and they just made a massive signing in Patrick Queen. The star linebacker played for their bitter rivals, and he's here to infuse some youth and talent into the Pittsburgh defense. The team has always been a defensive team, and they just added one of the better linebackers on the market.
Queen was a star with the Baltimore Ravens, and he made plays all over the field when these two teams duked it out. With a deep and increasingly expensive linebacker corps already in Baltimore, Queen walked and went straight to Pittsburgh.
Russell Wilson was the team's biggest signing up to that point. The veteran quarterback seemingly fills a need for a very small price tag, which freed up the space to go after someone of Queen's caliber. The new Steelers leader gave Queen a shoutout on X, too.
Wilson has been a Steeler for just a couple of days, but he's excited about the team's latest and most expensive addition this offseason. The Steelers, with T.J. Watt and Minkah Fitzpatrick, should have a talented defense once again.
Full breakdown of Patrick Queen's free agency deal with the Steelers
The deal that the Pittsburgh Steelers signed for Patrick Queen is a three-year contract worth $41 million. Queen was potentially going to land a $20 million a year deal, but was inked for less than that.
The former Baltimore Ravens standout is under contract for just under $14 million. As of now, there's no indication that this contract is incentivized or that it has a higher ceiling. It looks like a standard contract for $41 million.
Queen made his first Pro Bowl last year and is only 24 years old, so it's a little surprising that the star linebacker didn't earn a longer deal. Several players are getting long deals to keep them under contract for a while, especially those on the younger side, but Queen is in the Steel City for three seasons at least.
The linebacker now joins Elandon Roberts, Cole Holcomb and Mark Robinson as the Steelers' inside linebackers. The team runs a 3-4, with T.J. Watt and others operating as edge linebackers, too.