C.J. Stroud may not be the top-five QB that people projected him to be after his stellar rookie season, but he has led the Texans to both the playoffs and a playoff win in each of his three NFL seasons. So why are there rumors that the team is interested in trading him?
Texans GM Nick Caserio certainly doesn't know.
Speaking to the media this week, Caserio directly addressed speculation and rumors that the Texans were interested in trading their star QB. Per ESPN's Adam Schefter, he bluntly called the speculation "moronic" before stating clearly that the team is "not trading C.J."
Shock and Disbelief
NFL fans who saw the remarks quickly pointed out that the very notion Stroud might be traded has been moronic from the get-go.
"Caserio calling trade speculation moronic and shutting it down immediately is the most direct front office statement of the offseason. Houston is not moving Stroud and anyone still writing that story needs to find a different angle," one user on X wrote in response.
"As expected because when C.J. Stroud is the face of your rebuild, your Offensive Rookie of the Year, and the reason the fanbase finally believes again, you don’t even entertain that nonsense," another replied.
"The fact that this even had to be addressed is crazy. You don’t trade a franchise QB on a rookie deal. Period. C.J. Stroud is the future in Houston," wrote a third.
But there's always a couple of nuts out there who believe that every rumor is a sign that someone is hiding something...
"No franchise QB on a rookie deal should even have whispers about being traded unless something behind the scenes isn’t adding up. Either the Texans are tired of the smoke… or there’s a fire they’re pretending doesn’t exist.
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In three seasons with the Texans, Stroud is 28-18 overall with a 63.8% completion rate and 62 touchdowns against 25 interceptions. He's 3-3 in the playoffs but had a pretty rough postseason this past January, throwing four interceptions in a Divisional Round loss to the New England Patriots - half as many as he threw in the entire regular season.
People may have gotten too emotional over that lackluster performance against a Patriots team that was good enough to reach the Super Bowl. So long as Stroud keeps leading the Texans to the playoffs, there's no chance in hell that the team is going to trade him.
If anything, an extension is probably already in the works.