Appearing on the May 29th episode of the Pat McAfee Show, ESPN Senior NFL Insider Adam Schefter put his opinionated stamp on how he thinks the offseason will end for Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud. Specifically, in the area of Stroud and the team potentially striking a deal on a new contract extension before the regular season begins in September.
"My guess is he does, that's my guess," answered Schefter when prompted by co-host A.J. Hawk on whether or not Stroud gets a new contract before the offseason ends. He continued with,
"They've been paying their players, and if I had to guess and bet on the Texans and how they handle it, I would say that C.J. Stroud gets paid this offseason. And I would say by the time the season begins, C.J. Stroud has a new deal. That's my guess, that's my hunch, we'll see if it plays out."
The highly polarizing words of Schefter come at a time where Stroud has been working to revamp his publication reputation after his now infamous 2025-2026 playoff run. For the most part, that endeavor has been met with much cautious optimism, as the fan base has nit picked and over-analyzed every aspect of his preparation for the 2026 season. From his haircut, to his press conferences and even quotes from teammates and coaches, fans and local media are scraping for every last morsel of evidence they can to validate their respective positions on Stroud.
Some think Houston would be foolish to commit to Stroud right now, while others would rejoice over the opportunity to perhaps grab Stroud at a more palatable rate given the fact the Texans would virtually be "buying low" on his services. Eerily enough, two years ago we saw a scenario almost exactly like this happen about four hours north of Houston.
Dak Prescott and C.J. Stroud may be in the same boat
Ahead of the 2024 regular season, the Dallas Cowboys and quarterback Dak Prescott were at odds over their own contract negotiations. The kerfuffle was mainstream news for months, as Prescott's impending free agency in the 2025 offseason was the invisible ticking clock that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones had to abide by in his efforts to strike a pact with his then-31-year old signal caller.
At the proverbial "midnight hour" (which was right before week one against the Cleveland Browns), news broke that Dallas and Prescott had finally agreed to terms on a historic contract that made him the highest paid player in NFL history at the time. He signed a four-year, $240 million deal that featured $231 million in guaranteed money. It was the first (and thus far only) of its kind to see a player eclipse $60 million on an annual basis.
What made the matter so contentious in the first place was the perceived lack of confidence that the Cowboys demonstrated when faced with whether or not to immediately sign Prescott. Like Stroud, Prescott's arrival in Dallas saw a meteoric rise that then led to some uneven seasons that made people truly question, "is Dak really the guy?".
In 2016 rookie season, Prescott led the Cowboys to a shocking 13-3 record and the #1 seed in the NFC. He did this with help from an elite running back in fellow rookie Ezekiel Elliot and an individual passing stat line of 311 completions (459 attempts, 67.8%), 3,667 yards, 23 touchdowns and four interceptions. He ended that season as a Pro Bowler and the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year (sound familiar?).
That special season would come to an unfortunate end however, as the Green Bay Packers and future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers defeated the young Cowboys in the NFC Divisional round by a final score of 34-31. Prescott and co. would then go on to rack up five winning seasons from 2017-2023, making the playoffs in four of them and escaping the NFC Wild card round only twice in that span.
The biggest black mark on Prescott and the Cowboys being the fact that even after a 36-15 regular season stretch from 2021-2023, Dallas never even sniffed a Conference Championship game. In fact, it's now been over 30 years since their last appearance in the NFL semifinal round in 1996, where they defeated that Packers 38-27 to make what would be their final Super Bowl run.
Even with Prescott putting up multiple prolific passing yard seasons and accumulating multiple Pro Bowl nods throughout his career, the fact that he hadn't helped the Cowboys snap their Super Bowl drought and was still in line to break the bank in the meantime was seen as a tough proposition for Jones and much of the Cowboy fan base to ignore. Alas, Prescott and his team still managed to compartmentalize those issues and agree on an agreement that keep him in Dallas until after the 2028 at least.
All that to say, Stroud's short career arc is almost the spitting image of Prescott's if I've ever seen one.
Houston and Dallas both have painful playoff memories as an anchor for their QB's
Most notably, in that Houston has an ugly playoff history that pre-dates Stroud, where:
- They've never won the AFC #1 seed
- They've never been to a Conference Championship game in their 25-year history
- They're 0-7 in AFC Divisional Round play, which Stroud has contributed an 0-3 mark of his own
Even though Stroud came out as a dominating force in the NFL is 2023, his inability to help lead the lead to greater heights given his immense skillset and potential is what has baffled many fans and national talking heads. While he's helped provide the organization with its best three-year stretch in franchise history, he's also the one who many blame for why it is the Texans and their historic defense didn't at least make the trip to Santa Clara for last year's Super Bowl festivities.
While greatly similar, Stroud has a chance after this offseason to break away from Prescott and provide his team with a future that the aforementioned Cowboy just hasn't been able to.
Whether or not he gets paid before offseason's end is still up in the air, but the possible legacy that lies in the front of him exists independently of that fact.
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