Pittsburgh Steelers predicted to pursue $36 million quarterback via offseason trade

The Pittsburgh Steelers are in a familiar position once again this offseason.

We are almost in March and the Steelers don't know who their starting quarterback will be. The team's starter last season, Aaron Rodgers, isn't guaranteed to return, and if he doesn't, Pittsburgh will be left with Will Howard and Mason Rudolph.

That's a major issue because Rudolph is not a starting-caliber quarterback and the jury is still very much out on Howard, who didn't play a single snap in 2025.

If Rodgers doesn't come back, the Steelers will be in the market for a new signal-caller and Sports Illustrated's Conor Orr predicts the team will put in a call to the Houston Texans about a trade for C.J. Stroud.

Here's Orr's thoughts on his prediction:

The Steelers will call the Texans about C.J. Stroud.

I’m not saying Houston will pick up, but I am saying that the Texans will receive a phone call. Stroud is the perfect pipe-dream reclamation project for a Steelers team that never plans to rebuild and is still probably too good to project for a top-10 pick in 2027. Would he be worth a pair of late first-round picks to a Texans team that can find a veteran bridge starter in this year’s class (Jimmy Garoppolo paired with Nick Caley?) and add to that vicious defense?  

Trade speculation surrounding Stroud has ramped-up this year after the Texans signal-caller struggled mightily in 2025. As a result, draft analyst Todd McShay believes teams will target Stroud.

“But the intriguing stuff, I’m told, don’t be surprised in the next couple weeks, as we get closer and closer to free agency, there’s going to be some big-name quarterbacks that are currently in destinations, that have contracts that are going to be targeted," McShay said. "Teams are going to be aggressive. C.J. [Stroud’s] one of them.”

While that's not an outlandish take, it remains to be seen if the Texans would even consider moving off Stroud. We tend to believe they won't and will instead give Stroud another year to right the ship before deciding on his future after that.

Former Texans long-time beat writer John McClain agrees.

In fact, he's so confident the Texans won't trade Stroud that he has threatened public nudity if the former No. 1 overall pick gets dealt.

“If CJ Stroud is traded I’ll walk naked down Kirby Drive at rush hour!” McClain said on X. “Is anyone else willing to do it if he’s NOT traded? Didn’t think so!”

Even if the Texans don't have an interest in trading Stroud, it's still a call the Steelers should make just to be sure.

Sure, Stroud hasn't been the same player he was during his rookie season, but that is not going to stop teams from pursuing a young player who looked to be on a superstar trajectory during his first season.

The Steelers would have at least one year to evaluate Stroud, and maybe two if his fifth-year option is picked up, which is likely. Adding to that, Stroud would be a cheap option in that span because he's still on his $36 million rookie deal.

If Stroud were to pan out, the Steelers would have their long-term answer under center. If not, they will have struck out on a bet that was worth making given Pittsburgh's current situation.

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