One of the milestone dates on the National Football League calendar comes up later this week, when the league releases the full schedule for the 2026 season on Thursday night. Between now and then, we will see a few leaks, a few of which might even include the Texans. For example, it’s widely rumored the Texans and Jaguars will play in London in Week 6.
We’ll see how these rumors play out, but when the schedule comes out, one thing that you will notice is that this might be the most difficult gauntlet of quarterbacks the Texans will have faced in the DeMeco Ryans Era. There are MVP candidates, Pro Bowlers, and stat machines, young and old.
The Texans player most impacted by this murderer’s row of signal callers is, ironically, not a player on defense. Instead, it’s the counterpart to all of those great quaretrbacks — it’s C.J. Stroud, and it has everything to do with the big contract extension that Stroud is seeking, and likely won’t get this summer.
Reportedly, there have been little to no talks between the Texans and Stroud’s camp about a new deal, which means that both sides appear ready to play “wait and see” for one more season, with Stroud betting on himself and the Texans hoping he wins that bet. I promise you that the Texans would love nothing more than to pay a DESERVING C.J. Stroud a top of market contract.
The best way Stroud can prove himself is to take on some of the highest paid quarterbacks in the game, stand toe to toe with them, and win more than his fair share. That’s where the schedule and the “QB gauntlet” comes into play.
Here are a handful of the quarterbacks on the Texans’ schedule, along with the average annual value of their contracts, and where those contracts rank among all contracts in the NFL in AAV. Also, I’ve noted where these games will take place this season, with “vs” meaning it’s a Texans home game, and “at” meaning it’s an away game. Look at the salary behemoths Stroud will be facing this season:
- 1. $60,000,000 – Dak Prescott, vs DAL
- 2T. $55,000,000 – Josh Allen, vs BUF
- 2T. $55,000,000 – Joe Burrow, vs CIN
- 2T. $55,000,000 – Trevor Lawrence, vs JAC
- 2T. $55,000,000 – Trevor Lawrence, at JAC
- 2T. $55,000,000 – Jordan Love, at GB
- 8. $52,500,000 – Justin Herbert, at LAC
- 9. $52,000.000 – Lamar Jackson, vs BAL
- 10. $51,000,000 – Jalen Hurts, at PHI
- 13. $46,000,000 – Deshaun Watson, at CLV
- 16. $44,000,000 – Daniel Jones, vs IND
- 16. $44,000,000 – Daniel Jones, at IND
To summarize what you’re looking at in those bullet points, Stroud will play nine games next season against eight of the top ten quarterbacks (he plays against Trevor Lawrence twice) in the NFL, in terms of contract AAV. He has three more games against two other highly paid quarterbacks, assuming Deshaun Watson is the starter in Cleveland and Daniel Jones’ Achilles tendon works.
For what it’s worth, beyond the dozen games listed above, Stroud has a game against Jayden Daniels (who will also be up for a big extension next summer) along with Aaron Rodgers, Jaxson Dart, and two games against Former number one overall pick, Cam Ward.
Let’s get back to the list of very wealthy quarterbacks above. There’s an old saying in sports — to be the man, you gotta beat the man. C.J. Stroud wants to be paid like the Josh Allens and Joe Burrows of the world. Honestly, in a perfect world, he’d like to be paid more than Dak Prescott’s $60 million.
The best way to make that happen for Stroud would be for him to take advantage of this massive opportunity, slay a slew of dragons in 2026, and then laugh all the way to the bank a year from now. We’ll find out what order this gauntlet unfolds on Thursday night this week.
