Patrick Queen Picks Steelers Over Panthers + Others

Carolina misses out on a top linebacker free agent.

A potential free agent target is off the board for the Carolina Panthers as former Baltimore Ravens linebacker Patrick Queen agreed to terms on a three-year, $41 million deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.

After losing Frankie Luvu and Yetur Gross-Matos in free agency to the Commanders and 49ers, on top of trading away Brian Burns to the Giants, the Panthers were hoping to snag a top-tier linebacker in free agency. There are other options still on the table, but Queen appeared to be one of their top targets and would have filled in the void left behind by Luvu.

In 2023, Queen had his best season yet tallying 133 tackles (career-high), nine tackles for loss, six QB hits, six passes defended, 3.5 sacks, one interception, one forced fumble, and a fumble recovery.

The Panthers will continue to search for linebacker and pass rush help in free agency, but finding a talent close to Queen to replace Luvu is going to be quite the challenge especially for a team that won just two games a year ago. As they've already done on the offensive side of the ball the Panthers will likely have to overpay to get a top-tier talent.

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