"We're glad to have him, man. We're glad to have him."
Those two sentences were blurted by Najee Harris about Patrick Queen, his newest teammate who arrived from the AFC North rival Ravens in the offseason. While Queen held court after Wednesday's second OTA practice at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex, Harris took it upon himself to interrupt Queen's press conference from a few locker stalls down. Harris then referred to a play that Harris beat Queen on while they were in college at Alabama and LSU, respectively, in 2019, to which Queen offered a grin at.
All joking aside, Harris is not the only one who is thrilled to have Queen as a member of the Steelers' linebackers room. Queen and Payton Wilson were brought in to fortify the inside linebackers room alongside Elandon Roberts, Cole Holcomb and Mark Robinson this offseason. At one point last season Mike Tomlin considered the inside linebackers room a "luxury." If all goes right after the additions of Queen and Wilson, imagine what it could become for the 2024 Steelers.
"Right now we're just building the foundation of everything and trying to get a feel of everybody, trying to get a feel of the coaches, how things are ran here, so right now it's going good," Queen said. "Just come in here and do what I'm supposed to do, help this team win. Come in here and do my job and do it at a high level. That's the reason why they brought me in here, so anything other than that ain't my responsibility, so just me coming in here doing my job at a high level."
The Steelers paid top dollar for the 25-year-old Queen in free agency. His $41 million salary over the next three years is the fourth-highest total value for his position, behind the Ravens' Roquan Smith, the 49ers' Fred Warner and the Bears' Tremaine Edmunds, per OverTheCap. Of those four linebackers, he is the youngest.
Queen was a second-team All-Pro selection after the 2023 season. He racked up a career-high 133 total tackles, nine for loss, to go with 3.5 sacks and six passes defended. He posted 11 or more total tackles in a game four times, and he had exactly nine solo tackles in two games last year. His skills in blitzing and in pass coverage are as well-balanced as any linebacker's in the league and the Steelers paid him as such when the Ravens cut the cord.
Roberts confirmed Queen had an interception return for a touchdown in Wednesday's OTA practice. He said he made sure he was the first to celebrate with Queen in the end zone.
"We're building a strong relationship," Roberts said. "Texting, talking after practice, talking all during practice, laughing, messing around. Today I was messing with a couple of offensive linemen. I told them I couldn't wait to smell their breath and whatnot and then P.Q. came through and started talking, and I was like, 'oh, yeah, I like this, I like this.' It's been fun these last two days but for us, and not just me and P.Q. but the whole linebacker room, just building a relationship and whatnot because at all times we have to be on the same page because that's what builds great teams."
Wilson is just 252 days younger than Queen, though Queen is entering his fifth NFL season and Wilson is entering his first. Wilson was the best linebacker in all of college football in 2023 and the Steelers scooped him up with the 98th overall selection in April's draft. Wilson's speed and coverage abilities have been lauded throughout this process, and his veteran counterparts have already taken notice of what he brings to the room.
"Athlete," Queen said. "Got that mindset, you can kind of tell, the way he talks he's a really smart player. You can really tell he's about that action with football. That's the type of guy that you want in your room."
Added Roberts, with a smile as Wilson sat at the locker stall next to his: "He's so tall. You know, I promise y'all, this guy here, you can tell his maturity and stuff like that. All he wants to do is learn."
Wilson's reputation was earned in his five seasons at N.C. State. In 2023 he was selected as an All-American while winning the Chuck Bednarik Award and Butkus Award. Even for someone with as much college pedigree as Wilson has, there is still an adjustment process to go through.
"It's a lot different in the NFL," Wilson said. "It's a lot faster, the defense is a lot more complex. Obviously we're competing every single day for a job but at the end of the day they're taking us under our wings and they're just trying to teach us the defense because they want what's best for us."
Wilson considered Queen a "super humble guy" and he said Queen texted him right when he was drafted. He believes Queen is one of the NFL's best linebackers because of his athleticism and how he is able to make football look slower than it is.
"It's so cool to have who I think is one of the best linebackers in the NFL take you under his wing and texting you and just telling you to just 'work on this, work on this, make sure to look out for this,'" Wilson said. "Him, E-Rob, Cole Holcomb, all those guys, they're just amazing people and at the end of the day to me they want to see me succeed and I can't thank them enough for that."
Holcomb is still working back from his knee injury sustained in Week 9 of the 2023 season. He is on the South Side for OTAs, though he is not participating in activities. With four of the five pieces intact for these sessions, Queen is excited for what is to come when Holcomb eventuall returns to the lineup.
"We've got the guys to do it, especially when Cole comes back," Queen said. "We've been clicking on all cylinders. I can't wait."
