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.<\/p>\n
Sports Illustrated\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
Two days after stating the Steelers should call the Houston Texans<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m 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,\u201d Orr writes.<\/a> \u201cWould he be worth a pair of late first-round picks to a Texans team that can find a veteran bridge starter in this year\u2019s class (Jimmy Garoppolo paired with Nick Caley?) and add to that vicious defense?\u201d<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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\u2019 Wild Card win over the Steelers<\/a> and threw four interceptions in the their divisional round loss to the New England Patriots.<\/p>\n