Ryan Shazier’s injury was nearly a decade ago, and the Pittsburgh Steelers have churned through dozens of inside linebackers since then, trying to get it right. Patrick Queen was meant to end that cycle when he became the highest-paid external free agent in franchise history. Two years later, with uneven results, Pittsburgh is once again at a crossroads.
Despite some fan support for cutting him loose, The Pat McAfee Show’s Steelers beat writer Mark Kaboly sees things differently.
“I don’t know who replaces Patrick Queen unless you find somebody else out there right now to be able to bring in free agency that you’ll like better than him,” Kaboly said on 93.7 The Fan’s Evening Show. “I could see Patrick Queen getting extended more than I could see him getting cut right now.”
Queen’s contract was hefty for an external free agent in Pittsburgh, but it was structured in a team-friendly manner. He has a $2.5 million roster bonus due in March and a $10.83 million salary. None of that money is guaranteed, so the Steelers would have very minimal dead money and a lot of cap savings if they cut ties with him prior to the roster bonus coming due.
Mike Tomlin’s departure hurts Queen’s value in a tangible way. He spent the last two years learning how to be the quarterback of Tomlin’s defense. Now it’s Patrick Graham in charge. The language and scheme could look a lot different. To his benefit, Scott McCurley remains the ILBs coach and has an extensive history with McCarthy.
What Graham and McCurley think of Queen will be key, but replacement value must be considered. The Steelers want to win now, and they aren’t going to cut Queen loose absent a plan. When Devin Bush Jr. is one of the top inside linebackers on the free agent market, it’s probably not a good time to make a change.
Queen had over 120 tackles in each of the last two seasons, and he hasn’t missed a game yet in his career. That counts for something. And he’s finally coming into his own as the green-dot wearing quarterback of the defense.
Missed tackles and inconsistent play have been his biggest issues in Pittsburgh, but there was a stretch of the 2025 season where Queen was playing lights out. If McCurley, Graham, and Mike McCarthy think they can pull more of that out of him, then an extension isn’t out of the question.