The belief is that 42-year-old quarterback Aaron Rodgers will be back for a second season with the Pittsburgh Steelers. But until Rodgers makes up his mind one way or another, it leaves the door open for debates and speculation.

Sports Illustrated’s Conor Orr is taking advantage of that, pushing the belief that the Steelers should pivot at the position and buy low on a young quarterback who struggled in 2025.

Two days after stating the Steelers should call the Houston Texans about C.J. Stroud, Orr doubled down in his 32-team offseason predictions piece for the MMQB. He predicts that the Steelers will call Houston this offseason and inquire about 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,” Orr writes. “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?”

The main question is whether the Texans listen on any calls for Stroud? That seems unlikely, since Houston is right in the window of Super Bowl contention with an elite defense.

Yes, Stroud struggled last season. He threw for just 3,041 yards with 19 touchdowns and eight interceptions, missing three games with injury. Those struggles continued into the postseason. Stroud had an interception and five fumbles in the Texans’ Wild Card win over the Steelers and threw four interceptions in the their divisional round loss to the New England Patriots.

Stroud is entering the final year of his rookie deal and is set to count $11,543,396 against the cap in 2026, according to Over The Cap. He’s line for a massive contract extension, and if the Steelers pursue him, they will have to pay him market value for a young franchise quarterback, which would be north of $40 million per year.

Stroud is just 24 years old and is set to turn 25 in October. He had an elite rookie season but hasn’t reached those heights since. But he has had multiple offensive coordinators since his rookie season, so it’s been tough for him to settle into a scheme.

Maybe a reset is coming for Houston.

If it is, it would be wise for the Steelers to call about Stroud. He’s still young, and new head coach Mike McCarthy is a perceived QB whisperer. He could get good football out of Stroud once again, if that were to happen. But it wouldn’t be cheap, and it seems very unlikely that the Texans would pull the plug right now, even after a rough postseason.