One of the more intriguing storylines of the offseason has been the Pittsburgh Steelers plans for Patrick Queen. Entering the final year of his deal and having never lived up to expectations, arguments were made on every side of what to do with him.
With his roster bonus now picked up, it feels like a safe bet that the Steelers will keep him around for this year. However, following the trade rumors with Dallas, it doesn’t appear that this pairing will be for the long term.
Queen has now added even more fuel to that fire by switching agents.
Typically, a player changes agents when they either want a new deal or want a trade out of a team. For Queen, it feels like only one of those options is likely. Queen could be trying to force his way out.
Patrick Queen may be signaling the beginning of the end of his time with the Pittsburgh Steelers
Entering a contract year, it wouldn’t be surprising if Queen wants a new deal. While his play has been inconsistent, the linebacker market this year showed that a player like him still has value.
While playing out the final year of his deal and entering free agency sounds fine on paper, Queen is one injury away from upending that. We have seen countless times players get injured before, and it derails their next contract.
That being said, I can’t see the Steelers giving him a new deal right now. Rumors were just swirling that he was going to be traded. It seems unlikely that he would suddenly get a new contract to stay here.
This, along with the new agent, makes me think that he may be positioning himself for a holdout or even request a trade to land on a team and get a new deal.
The draft will be the next major tell. The Steelers have sniffed around some of the top linebacker names in the class. I’m expecting an off-ball linebacker to be added sooner than later, and if one is brought in, it could give them the security to walk away from Queen.
While nothing is certain yet, Queen getting a new agent could produce some notable ripples. At the very least, it appears as though Queen knows he will be needing some new representation to work out a new deal sooner than later.