The Houston Texans are only 2-4 in the 2026 regular season, but there is significantly more optimism about this team than about fellow 2-4 teams like the Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles, and even the Los Angeles Rams.

C.J. Stroud is the reason why this Texans team can have such confidence. While the defense has been underwhelming in 2026 and the running game has been terrible, Stroud has played at a very high level. This has come at a great time for Stroud as well.

As ESPN's Jeremy Fowler highlighted, Stroud is winning the bet he placed on himself this season following his rejection of a $50 million-plus per-year contract offer from the Texans. The reason why? He's playing better than ever at the best time possible.

C.J. Stroud is winning bet on himself after $50M+ contract rejection

"The Texans were willing to extend Stroud on a deal worth well above $50 million per year," Fowler writes. "But Stroud saw a bigger picture: a growing quarterback market and his place in it."

After the disastrous end to the 2025 season, with a horrendous performance in the playoffs against the New England Patriots, it wouldn't have been a surprise for the Texans to consider making a long-term change of plans at quarterback.

However, they stuck with Stroud, and even tried signing him to an extension north of $50M per year. It was a big offer that seemed like a huge mistake to reject at the time for Stroud.

But through six weeks of the 2026 NFL season, Stroud is winning the bet he placed on himself. He's thrown for 1,714 passing yards, the second-most in the NFL, and has nine touchdowns to one interception.

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His 65.6 QBR this year is 11th in the NFL, and he's the main reason why this season hasn't been a complete nightmare for the Texans.

With a stacked wide receiver room, Stroud has a real chance to put up elite numbers for the Texans in 2026. Marvin Harrison Jr. was just traded for, and he joins Nico Collins, Jaylin Noel, Kayshon Boutte, Xavier Hutchinson, and Tank Dell in the WR room.

Houston has set Stroud up to succeed this season, and he's doing so at a very high level. Stroud, if he continues to play this well, will have won the bet he placed on himself in a massive way.

After turning down $50-plus million per-year from the Texans over the offseason, he's now potentially setting himself up for a $60M per-year deal or better with how elite he's looked for Houston so far this season.

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