Texans urged to make unusual C.J. Stroud contract decision by ESPN's NFL insider

Teams in the NFL pay their quarterbacks. That's how it works at the most important position in sports.

But should the Houston Texans be in a rush to give C.J. Stroud a massive contract extension?

That's certainly a question worth asking.

ESPN's Dan Graziano broke it all down in a new article on Monday, and his conclusion is that Stroud is going to get paid, even if he thinks Houston should wait.

"To be clear: I have not heard one single indication that the Texans are planning to do anything other than extend Stroud as soon as they can," Graziano writes. "That's almost certainly what will happen. But are we 100 percent sure it should?"

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Stroud was a star as a rookie. Since then, he hasn't quite been the same player.

And in these playoffs, he struggled immensely.

"I'm not saying Stroud is no good," Graziano writes. "He's 24 years old. His rookie season might have set too high a standard for him to live up to in his second and third years. And he could recover from Sunday and have a Hall of Fame career. All I'm saying is, there's no reason to hurry here. Stroud is signed through 2026, and the Texans have a team option for 2027 that's a no-brainer to pick up. They could theoretically franchise-tag him in 2028 and 2029 if needed. Why not give it another year and see how he recovers from this and what improvements he makes to get back to playing the way he did as a rookie?"

Graziano throws a bit of a Tua Tagovailoa comparison into the mix, too.

"Teams rush into these deals far too often (hello, Dolphins!) and end up regretting them," Graziano writes. "I'm just not understanding the need to rush a Stroud extension after what we saw Sunday (and last Monday) and while Houston still has at least four more years of team control."

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All fair points, for sure.

There's also an element of whether Stroud will be able to maximize his earning potential on a contract signed after those struggles, versus if he puts together a big fourth season and can get much more.

It'll be a storyline to watch this offseason, for sure.

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