3<\/p>\n C.J. Stroud faces an uncertain future with the Houston TexansCredit: gettyRavens QB would be immediate Texans upgrade<\/p>\n Some blockbuster trades require months of internal planning and background vetting.<\/p>\n Other deals never get better than the first proposal and make too much sense not to eventually happen.<\/p>\n Which means the Houston Texans<\/a> have a few serious questions to ask themselves after Stroud threw four first-half interceptions<\/a> and was the primary reason his team fell 28-16 to the New England Patriots<\/a> on Sunday in an AFC Divisional Round defeat.<\/p>\n Will Stroud become a top-five NFL<\/a> quarterback for the 2026 season?<\/p>\n READ MORE ON TEXANSWATCH Lamar Jackson shove Bills fan who smacked his helmet during late game capitulation to Buffalo<\/p>\n Will Stroud ever get back to his first-year peak, when he won NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year and made the Carolina Panthers<\/a> look like fools by taking Bryce Young with the No. 1 overall pick?<\/p>\n And if Jackson is available via trade this offseason, is there any reason for the Texans not to explore a blockbuster trade that would instantly change two franchises at once?<\/p>\n The salary cap implications will be tangled, and it’s rare for teams to swap Pro Bowl quarterbacks mid-career. <\/p>\n But just imagine a revived Jackson paired with the Texans\u2019 defense, which technically only gave up 21 points on Sunday since Stroud threw a pick-six interception to New England defender Marcus Jones.<\/p>\n It\u2019s surreal how bad Stroud was in the first half, which saw the Texans give away a 10-7 second-quarter lead.<\/p>\n Stroud blamed himself after four INTs<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like I let people down,\u201d said Stroud, after finishing 20-of-47 for 212 yards, one touchdown, four picks, three sacks and a 28 passer rating.<\/p>\n \u00a0“I\u2019m not happy with that. It hurts. I\u2019m not used to it.”<\/p>\n 3<\/p>\n This could be a perfect time for the Texans to explore a trade for Lamar JacksonCredit: Getty<\/p>\n It was also surreal realizing that the Texans \u2013 who haven\u2019t been to an AFC Championship game since their 2000 franchise inception \u2013 were still in the contest early in the fourth quarter and within 21-16.<\/p>\n That\u2019s a tribute to Azeez Al-Shaair, Jalen Pitre, Danielle Hunter, Will Anderson Jr. and a DeMeco Ryans-coach Texans defense that was Super Bowl-worthy, but rarely backed by a proper offense throughout the 2025 season.<\/p>\n “It\u2019s tough to win a game when you turn the ball over five times,” said Ryans, in the understatement of the playoffs.<\/p>\n Stroud isn\u2019t close to being the best QB in the AFC South.<\/p>\n Trevor Lawrence<\/a> won back that honor this year, while the Jacksonville Jaguars<\/a> went 13-4 and should be strong again in 2026.<\/p>\n Joe Burrow<\/a> and Patrick Mahomes<\/a> will also be back next season, while Josh Allen<\/a>, Sam Darnold<\/a>, Bo Nix<\/a> and Justin Herbert<\/a> will compete in a loaded AFC.\u00a0<\/p>\n NFL’s Greatest……<\/p>\n Ranking the top 10……<\/p>\n Then there\u2019s the fact that Drake Maye has already surpassed Stroud in New England\u2019s remade offense and should win NFL MVP this year.<\/p>\n Pivot to Baltimore and find a frustrated Jackson waiting for a new environment and football recharge.<\/p>\n Hard to double down on Stroud in Houston<\/p>\n Sure, he Baltimore’s QB wants a new contract (again) and also hasn\u2019t proven himself in the playoffs.<\/p>\n But the Texans are better off paying Action Jackson than financially doubling down on Stroud in 2026 and beyond. <\/p>\n A new five-year extension could approach the $300 million range, and Stroud’s passing numbers have declined during the last two seasons. <\/p>\n On talent alone, Jackson is still one of the best athletes in the NFL and his career breakthrough theoretically has to happen at some point.<\/p>\n 3<\/p>\n Jackson is near the top of the NFL in athletic talentCredit: Getty<\/p>\n The Texans must know internally that Stroud isn\u2019t good enough, just three seasons after taking him at No. 2 overall.<\/p>\n Their fans have been waiting for the next stage since 2000, and four picks in a playoff game has more in common with past forgettable QBs Brian Hoyer and Brock Osweiler than winning the Super Bowl<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Texans ignited their new era by finally getting rid of Deshaun Watson<\/a> in a franchise-altering trade<\/a>.<\/p>\n Read More on talkSPORT<\/p>\n At least make a call to Baltimore to figure out what exactly is going on with the Ravens \u2013 and what it would take to give the Texans the most talented QB in the league in 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n Stay up to date with the latest from the NFL across all platforms – follow our dedicated\u00a0talkSPORT USA Facebook page<\/a>\u00a0and subscribe to our\u00a0talkSPORT USA YouTube channel<\/a>\u00a0for all the news, exclusives, interviews and more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"C.J. Stroud just played the worst game of his NFL career and fell short in the Divisional Round…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":688725,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2052],"tags":[265,184,117,2282,1028,100582,1222,100586,7,253,895,40712,100587,100588,6,835,84,832,169,100584,100581,100579,100577,100578,26087,100585,100580,12536,100583],"class_list":["post-688724","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-baltimore-ravens","tag-american-football","tag-baltimore","tag-baltimore-ravens","tag-baltimoreravens","tag-c-j-stroud","tag-c-j-stroud-news","tag-cj-stroud","tag-cj-stroud-news","tag-football","tag-houston-texans","tag-lamar-jackson","tag-lamar-jackson-contract","tag-lamar-jackson-texans","tag-lamar-jackson-trade","tag-nfl","tag-nfl-news","tag-nfl-playoffs","tag-nfl-rumors","tag-ravens","tag-ravens-new-coach","tag-ravens-trade-rumors","tag-stroud-contract-extension","tag-stroud-four-interceptions","tag-stroud-future-with-houston-texans","tag-texans-news","tag-texans-patriots","tag-texans-trade-rumors","tag-us-sports","tag-would-texans-trade-for-lamar-jackson"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/688724","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=688724"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/688724\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/688725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=688724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=688724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=688724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"C.J.](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GYI2256954778jpg-JS1052474447.jpg\")
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