The Pittsburgh Steelers 2024 NFL season has come to a close. Because the Steelers are among the 31 teams who did not finish fulfilling their ultimate goal, they are in the process of wrapping up their season and moving forward into 2025.

Since the Steelers conduct exit interviews with all their players, and the fact I have done these articles in the past, we thought we would do them yet again here at Steel Curtain Network. By outlining two players each day, we will be able to look at their season in retrospect as well as looking toward the future. Since Coach Tomlin has previously stated he starts his interviews with rookies and those heading into free agency, we will attempt to do the same to some degree. To start, we will pair the most recent draftees with another player at the same position (if possible) as we work through this process to eventually cover the entire Steelers roster.

Next up are linebackers Payton Wilson and Patrick Queen.

Payton Wilson

Position: Linebacker
Years with the Steelers: 1
Years in the NFL: 1
Contract Status: Signed through 2027
Contract Details: $1,271,889 salary cap hit for 2025. Would cost the Steelers $667,533 in dead money if released and save $604,356.
Games played in 2023: 17 regular season
Games started in 2023: 4 regular season
Snaps (regular season): 492 (defense), 301 (special teams)
PFF score: 74.7 (16th of 84)
Notable stats: Wilson had 78 tackles, 3 for which were for loss, an interception, and a fumble recovery for a touchdown.

Notes: Payton Wilson landed in a pretty good situation in Pittsburgh as their second third-round draft pick. Being able to get into the rotation at inside linebacker as well as contributing on special teams had Wilson involved in every game of the Steelers 2024 campaign. Coming up with an amazing interception in a win over the Ravens and scoring what was ultimately the game-winning touchdown against the Cincinnati Bengals gave Wilson quite the rookie season. Hopefully things will continue to ascend for Payton Wilson into 2025.

Patrick Queen

Position: Linebacker
Years with the Steelers: 1
Years in the NFL: 5
Contract Status: Signed through 2026
Contract Details: $17,693,333 salary cap hit for 2025. Would cost the Steelers $7,726,667 in dead money if released and save $9,966,666.
Games played in 2023: 17 regular season
Games started in 2023: 17 regular season
Snaps (regular season): 1,090 (defense), 74 (special teams)
PFF score: 58.6 (65th of 84)
Notable stats: Queen had 129 tackles, 6 of which were for loss, 7 passes defensed, 2 forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.

Notes: There are a number of Steelers fans who were ultimately disappointed with Patrick Queen‘s first season in Pittsburgh. While he still managed to be a Pro Bowl alternate, Queen was coming off of a season where he was Second Team All-Pro. Still, there was an increase in quality of play at the inside linebacker position for the Steelers in 2025. Even though Patrick Queen had his ups and downs, the biggest test for him is yet to come as he will ultimately need to earn his keep with a more than $17 million salary cap hit next season which brings elevated expectations.

Make sure you check back each day for another set of exit interviews. If you have missed any of the previous articles, they are listed here:

Troy Fautanu & Broderick Jones
Zach Frazier & Ryan McCollum
Roman Wilson & Van Jefferson