Patrick Queen’s first year as the Pittsburgh Steelers’ starting linebacker didn’t go exactly to plan. He was durable and available, even playing through a nasty flu bug in the team’s Wild Card loss, and at his best, made splash plays he flashed in Baltimore. But there’s a lot more he and the Steelers’ defense can achieve, making 2025 the year to offer a return on the organization’s big investment.
Speaking to Steelers.com’s Missi Matthews, Queen was candid about the challenges of last year and his goals this season.
“Last season’s last season, I think I’m over all that stuff,” [he told Matthews in a recent interview.](https://www.steelers.com/video/watch-interview-with-queen?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=discord) “I’ve been talking about the green dot and getting used to that. Getting used to the defense and new calls and new teammates. All that stuff is out the window.
“I think this is a season where I gotta show up. I gotta be who they paid me to be. I feel like that’s who I am anyway. Why not this year, second year, to do that.”
Signed ahead of the 2024 season, Queen became and remains the highest-paid outside free agent in team history, landing a three-year, $41 million deal. A contract that required him to wear the “green dot,” the radio headset to receive and disseminate play calls as the Steelers’ every-down linebacker. Queen almost never left the field, but communication was a struggle across the defense. Coverage busts and confusion ran rampant during the team’s five-game losing streak and is a problem that can’t repeat if the defense wants to succeed in 2025.
Patrick Queen himself can be better, too. He led the team with 129 tackles and made the Pro Bowl, but his play was mixed. Inconsistent tackling, especially early in the year, was an issue. Per Josh Carney’s charting, Queen finished the season with a [13.7-percent missed tackle rate](https://steelersdepot.com/2025/01/wild-card-missed-tackles-report-steelers-vs-ravens/), one of the team’s higher figures and slightly worse than rookie Payton Wilson’s 13.4-percent mark.
After recording 8.5 sacks across his final two seasons with the Baltimore Ravens, Queen had just one in Pittsburgh and generally lacked impact plays. He finished without an interception after snagging at least one in three of his first four NFL seasons, though he deflected a pass that CB Beanie Bishop Jr. picked off in the regular-season finale.
In Baltimore, Queen played his best after ceding the green dot to-then teammate Roquan Smith, eliciting concerns that he struggles to play well when tasked as the central hub of communication. Questions that linger based on last year’s performance.
Clearly, Patrick Queen isn’t running away from the pressure of being a highly paid anchor of the Steelers’ defense. If Pittsburgh wants to feel like it made the right decision to pay him, it will need more out of him. As he noted, a second year in the system now comfortable with the teammates and the calls should help him take a leap and look like the player he was in Baltimore.