Tomlin still buzzes about nabbing Queen from rival
ORLANDO, Fla. — One of the things Mike Tomlin liked about acquiring former Baltimore Ravens linebacker Patrick Queen in free agency was the unique combination of youth and experience. And, of course, the way he performs on the field.
Queen won’t be 25 until August, but he started all 67 games for the Ravens since he was the 28th overall pick in the 2020 draft. In that time, he had four interceptions, five forced fumbles, six fumble recoveries and 13.5 sacks.
“Patrick is a great player, a great guy,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said Monday during the AFC coaches breakfast at the NFL owners meetings. “I love Patrick Queen. He’s one of my alltime favorite people. We’re going to be friends forever.”
With all the attention focused on the acquisition of quarterbacks Russell Wilson and Justin Fields, the addition of Queen is probably the biggest move the Steelers made when they signed him to a three-year, $41 million contract with an $11 million signing bonus.
They are hoping he will be the missing piece at inside linebacker, a position that has been a revolving door of candidates since Ryan Shazier’s career-ending injury in 2016.
“He’s an all-situations linebacker, and so that’s exciting,” coach Mike Tomlin said. “He’s a guy that’s a three-down player. He’s a guy that can do a lot of things — can tackle, can cover, can blitz, and he’s 24-and-a-half years old. So, he’s got that great combination of youth and experience. And I think that those are some of the reasons why we’re really excited about bringing him on board.
Then Tomlin added, “I can’t tell you how exciting it is just because of the familiarity, as well. We’ve seen a lot of him, he’s seen a lot of us, and it’s going to be an exciting marriage.”
And it might be a troubling divorce for the Ravens.
Harbaugh acknowledged it will be different seeing him in a Steelers uniform when the division rivals
meet in 2024.
“I’ll give him a hug before the game and I’ll root for him except for then,” Harbaugh said. “He’ll bring a great football player, great attitude, great work ethic, everything he brought to us. I’m a big fan of Pat Queen.”
Wilson discussion
Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton said he typically doesn’t talk shop when he sees Tomlin at the owners meetings. But the subject of Russell Wilson might come up during their discussion this week.
The Steelers signed Wilson to a one-year, $1.2 million contract in free agency, with both sides intending to do a longer deal after the 2024 season.
“Look, I think it’s a good opportunity for Russ,” Payton said. “First off, they’re a playoff team, a team that wanted to make a change at quarterback. Certainly he has a chance to be a starter there.”
It was not an amicable parting with Wilson and the Broncos. He was 11-19 and missed the postseason in two seasons in Denver after being a nine-time Pro Bowler and Super Bowl-winning quarterback in Seattle.
Tomlin said he thinks Wilson, who will be 36 in November, still has a lot left in his playing tank.
“I don’t have any concerns about his capabilities or deterioration of those,” Tomlin said. “Denver was a different environment than Seattle. I care less about what transpired, to be quite honest. I’m excited about what awaits us.
“We’re not going to spend a whole lot of time looking in our rearview mirror. We’re going to look through our windshield and keep it moving.”
New rules
Like Tomlin, Harbaugh is a member of the league’s competition committee that is presenting a one-year
Steelers notebook
change to the kickoff rule for owners to consider.
But unlike Tomlin, who said he is “still on the fence” about the change, Harbaugh is in favor of the proposal and thinks it will pass.
Under the new kickoff rule proposal, kickoffs would remain at the 35-yard line, but the remaining 10 players of the kicking unit would line up at the opposing team’s 40-yard line. The receiving team would line up with at least seven players in a “set up zone,” a 5yard area between their own 35- and 30-yard lines. A maximum of two returners are permitted to line up in the landing zone.
“The thing I really appreciate about Roger (Goodell) is the passion and determination to get the kickoff back in the game, keep the game as exciting as it can possibly
be,” Harbaugh said. “The kickoff return has been around for a long time, I’m kind of passionate about it myself. For Roger to be championing that and get behind that and exploring every opportunity to keep the kickoff return in the game and keep it exciting, that’s the thing I’m happy about and is the right thing to do.”
Meantime, the owners adopted the proposal by the competition committee to ban the controversial swivel hip-drop tackle, enacting the rule over the objection of the NFL players association.
Such tackles, which showed a drastic increase in high-ankle sprains and ligament injuries, will now result in a 15-yard penalty and a possible fine.
“The injury rate for this sort of tackle compared to a typical tackle is at least 20 times more,” said NFL executive Jeff Miller.