C.J. Stroud made the Pro Bowl as a rookie. He has not been the same quarterback the past two seasons, despite winning a playoff game in each of his first three seasons.
Stroud threw five interceptions in the 2025 postseason, including four in a 28-16 loss to the Patriots in the divisional round.
It begs the question: How committed are the Texans to their quarterback?
They are likely to exercise the fifth-year option on Stroud’s contract, which would guarantee him $25.9 million for 2026, but they appear in no hurry to complete a long-term extension. General Manager Nick Caserio has said only that Stroud is the Texans’ starting quarterback for 2026, offering no insight into the future beyond this season.
Cal McNair, in an interview with Jonathan Alexander of the Houston Chronicle, would say only that they support Stroud.
“We’re totally behind him,” McNair told Alexander. “He’s totally bought into being our quarterback and all that entails.
“We all want to get better every year. He’s doing that. We’re doing that. Everyone is doing that in the organization. Everybody is trying to get better every day.”
Stroud, who threw a career-high 12 interceptions in 2024 and a career-low 19 touchdowns in 2025, has not played good enough the past two seasons for a team that had the No. 6 defense in 2024 and the No. 1 defense in 2025. McNair, though, isn’t listening to the criticism of his quarterback.
“I will let them do that and like I said, we’ll try to get better every year, top to bottom,” McNair said.
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