By far, no player has been on the field more often for the Pittsburgh Steelers over these past two seasons than Patrick Queen.
But will Queen be on the field in a Steelers uniform again beyond this coming season? And for that matter, did Queen hear or see the chatter from the outside earlier this offseason that he might not even have been part of the team by now?
“Obviously,” Queen said Thursday, “I’ve seen the whole charade that went on this offseason.”
Queen apparently was referencing social-media and media-pundit speculation from prior to free agency that he might be a cap casualty as the Steelers moved forward into 2026 with a new coach.
That, of course, didn’t happen. Queen is present at voluntary organized tam activities this week – though he did miss some earlier non-mandatory sessions for nondisclosed reasons.
Apparently, though, those reasons had nothing to do with significant dissatisfaction with the organization or his contract – one that still stands and still is written to pay him $10.83 million this season, the final of three per terms of the contract he signed with the Steelers as a free agent in March 2024.
“Some of (the outside speculation) was true, some of it was just extended truth,” Queen said, without elaborating. “Like, just people rambling and stuff. That’s what you’re gonna have with social media nowadays. Everybody wants to first say so with whatever happens and want to hope to be right. But it was very slim facts out there. That’s all it was.”
As for the idea Queen and the Steelers would agree to an extension now that he is eligible for one per team policy as he enters the final season of his current deal, Queen said there have been “talks here and there.
“Nothing crazy… No movement either way. At the end of the day, (the team has) got business to handle, I’ve got a business to handle. And my business is to go out there and play the best football I can and put myself in a good position — put our team in a good position — so that we both will be successful.”
Patrick Queen on entering the final season of his contract and if he’s discussed an extension with the Steelers pic.twitter.com/zNWXwCcxZY
— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) May 28, 2026
After coming over from the rival Baltimore Ravens 2 ½ years ago via the richest external free-agent contract the Steelers have ever given – three years, $41 million – Queen has played more than 97% of the defensive snaps. The 2,351 snaps (including special teams) that he’s played in that time are easily the most of any player for the Steelers.
Queen wears the “green dot” as the hub of communication for the defense, and his 229 tackles over the past two seasons also by far leads the team.
But the Steelers that Queen returns to for a third season have a much different feel than the ones he played for in 2024 and 2025. Mike McCarthy has replaced Mike Tomlin as coach, and Patrick Graham is coordinating the defense now instead of Teryl Austin.
“Crazy,” Queen said of his offseason. “A lot of stuff going on behind the scenes. It was just a wild offseason. I went through a whole bunch of stuff. But mostly for me, I just stay true to myself, trust in God, trust my family around me, trust my representation. And just ever since then, just been working out, fishing, doing the same old me. Not switching up anything I do, just staying true to my faith.”
But for all the change around Queen on the Steelers, his inside linebackers position room was the one least affected. Not only was Scott McCurley one of only two fulltime assistant coaches to stay onboard during the head-coaching transition, the personnel of the ILB corps also remained static: Queen, Payton Wilson, Cole Holcomb, Malik Harrison and Carson Bruener return after serving as the top five on the depth chart at the position last season.
“I know I can ball, Peyton knows he can ball, Cole knows he can ball, Carson knows he can ball, Malik knows he can ball,” Queen said. “Every single guy in our room knows that we can ball. So it’s not a matter of if – it’s can we do it consistently. So I think the biggest thing for us is we’ve got to do it every single day, down in and down out, trusting each other, going to play fast, going to play physical, showing we can play the run, showing we can play the pass, showing all the things that we can do as great athletes – but also be run-stoppers.
“So it’s going to be fun. I can’t wait to see how it turns out. It’s going to be a great season.”