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Houston Texans quarterback CJ Stroud can do it, but the results have been mixed over three years, with ups and downs that are loud and worrying.
Now is the time to make a decision, as Stroud is eligible for an extension. What does the 2023 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year think about it?
“I let my agent take care of that [extension talks]. If it’s time to do it, then it is. My job is football. That’s what I’m focused on, improving. I think I kept my deal,” Stroud said at the Texans’ OTAs on Thursday, according to ESPN. “Whatever happens, happens.”
In the aforementioned 2023 campaign, in which Stroud also earned a Pro Bowl nod, he totaled 4,108 passing yards, 23 passing touchdowns, five interceptions and a 100.8 passer rating (sixth among NFL quarterbacks) in 15 regular-season games, while completing 63.9% of his passes (22nd) in a year in which Houston won the AFC South. at 10-7 and made the playoffs for the first time. since 2019; They defeated the Cleveland Browns in the wild card round before losing to the Baltimore Ravens in the divisional round.
Stroud & Co. followed 2023 with another 10-win season, a division title and a wild-card round win over the Los Angeles Chargers in 2024. At the same time, they were again eliminated in the divisional round, this time by the Kansas City Chiefs. In the regular season, Stroud threw for 3,727 yards, 20 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions, while posting a passer rating of 87.0 (25th) and completing 63.2% of his passes (27th).
Then last season, Stroud recorded 3,041 passing yards, 19 passing touchdowns, eight interceptions and a 92.9 passer rating (17th) in 14 regular-season games, while completing 64.5% of his passes (20th). Houston won the AFC South and reached the divisional round for the third consecutive season, going 12-5. However, the Texans were also eliminated in the divisional round for the third consecutive season, with Stroud throwing four interceptions against the New England Patriots in the season-ending loss.
“I’m a motivated person anyway. Of course, [the playoff struggle] It helps,” Stroud said. “I’ve learned to let failures and successes pass quickly.”
Regardless of one’s opinion of Stroud, he is likely to become a top-10, if not a top-5 paid quarterback, given the contracts that a handful of signal-callers who are arguably in the same ballpark as him from a purely pedigree standpoint have received; Trevor Lawrence and Jordan Love are in a four-way tie with Josh Allen and Joe Burrow for being the second-highest-paid quarterback in the game with an average annual value of $55 million in their respective contracts; Brock Purdy and Jared Goff are tied for sixth among quarterbacks with an average annual value of $53 million on their respective deals.
The Texans selected Stroud with the second pick in the 2023 NFL Draft out of Ohio State; They exercised their fifth-year option for 2027 in April.
