Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Patrick Queen in a playoff game against the Houston Texans on Jan. 12, 2026. — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now
The soft deadline for the Pittsburgh Steelers to trade linebacker Patrick Queen passed on Friday, with the team paying him his $2.5 million roster bonus, nearly assuring that Queen will be on the Steelers for the 2026 season.
The Steelers had been fielding trade calls for inside linebacker Queen, and while the Steelers had not outright rejected the idea of trading their green-dot inside linebacker, whose contract expires after the 2026 season, no trade has come together to this point, either.
The Dallas Cowboys reportedly called about Queen, one of at least three teams that have called general manager Omar Khan about the former All-Pro linebacker, sources told Steelers Now.Â
For whatever reason — likely money — the deal between the Steelers and Cowboys hit a snag. The Cowboys are hard against the salary cap, and Queen has a high cap hit in 2026. If any team is going to want him in a trade, they’re going to need to negotiate a contract extension beyond this season that will reduce that initial cap hit, just like the Steelers did with wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr.
Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Patrick Queen at practice on Dec. 4, 2025. — Alan Saunders / Steelers Now
The Steelers probably also would like to sign Queen to an extension, or find some other way to reduce his cap hit in 2026, if he intends to play out the string with the team.
Queen is set to count for $17.2 million against the Steelers’ salary cap in 2026, but $13.3 million of that is new, non-guaranteed money — and there’s the rub. Queen was owed a $2.5 million roster bonus on Friday, March 13. If they had traded him before Friday, he would have incurred a $3.9 million dead cap hit while saving $13.3 million in cap space. Now, he would incur a $6.4 million dead cap hit while saving just $10.8 million in cap space.
Now that the Steelers have paid Queen that bonus, that money must stay on the Steelers’ rolls for 2026, making it much more unlikely that the team will want to trade him in 2026.
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