When Patrick Queen left the Baltimore Ravens to join the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2024 offseason, fans were rightfully furious. Of course, it wasn't just that he left the Ravens (this felt likely given how much money Baltimore had tied up with Roquan Smith) -- it was that he joined the Steelers of all teams. Queen's negative comments about the Ravens in the following two seasons added fuel to the fire.
However, Queen hasn't been very effective with the Steelers, and his time in Pittsburgh could soon be coming to an end. Bleacher Report's Alex Ballentine recently listed three possible cap casualties for each team, and Queen was one of the Steelers' candidates.
"Queen did not live up to his hefty price tag this season. He started all 17 games, but gave up a passer rating of 100.4 when targeted and missed 12.4 percent of his tackle attempts," Ballentine wrote.
The Ravens get the last laugh as Patrick Queen might be cut
Queen was fairly productive in his first season with the Steelers, but as Ballentine noted, he took a massive step back this past year. In addition to the stats that Ballentine mentioned, Queen recorded a career-low 56 solo tackles and tied his career-low with one sack this past year. By all accounts, Queen's poor season makes his three-year $41 million look like a mistake.
Cutting him would free up a sizable $13.3 million for the Steelers. Ravens fans would, of course, hope the Steelers wouldn't use this newfound cap space to make any significant upgrades. Regardless, they would certainly be delighted to see Queen's tenure end in this fashion.
I'm sure Eric DeCosta and Steve Bisciotti are laughing somewhere about this possibility.
Queen would undoubtedly be signed elsewhere (perhaps even by the New York Giants with John Harbaugh). However, the reality is that he hasn't lived up to his contract at all. Queen's deal makes him the 15th highest-paid linebacker in the league. Conversely, Pro Football Focus ranks him as the 78th-best linebacker with a 44.0 overall grade.
As such, it's in the best interest of the Steelers to move on from him. I could totally see him bouncing back with a new team on a cheaper deal -- but his value is fairly low right now, and if he doesn't prove himself next season, I'm not sure what his long-term outlook is.
While it initially stung to lose Queen two years ago, the Ravens have come out of this divorce looking great, especially considering what the Steelers paid him. That's what we call a blessing in disguise, folks.