The Houston Texans have two of the best young stars in the NFL, and they took them in back-to-back picks. The Texans selected C.J. Stroud with the second overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft and immediately traded up to take Will Anderson with the third overall pick.
Now, fresh off consecutive seasons with playoff wins, Houston is in position to start thinking about locking down their two franchise centerpieces for the long-term future. However Conor Orr of Sports Illustrated predicts that only one will get a market-setting deal from Houston. Orr says the Texans will lock up Anderson and wait to pay Stroud.
"The Texans hit a grand slam in the 2023 draft, selecting Stroud and Anderson with back-to-back picks in the top three," Orr writes. "Both of them won Rookie of the Year honors. After this season, both will have one year—plus the fifth-year option—remaining on their deals, which is often the start of a conversation for franchise cornerstone players. However, after another early playoff exit, the Texans are going to work feverishly to lock up Anderson before the Micah Parsons deal completely obliterates the pass-rushing market and makes signing one next to impossible. Parsons is playing on the fifth-year option. That leaves Stroud to either cement his fortune or watch it dwindle the following offseason. Signing Anderson also creates leverage for the Texans by making it easier to eventually use a franchise tag on their quarterback."
It would be smart of the Texans to get ahead of the Cowboys with a looming Micah Parsons deal, similar to how the Eagles signed both A.J. Brown and Devonta Smith while the Cowboys had yet to pay CeeDee Lamb. Getting Stroud locked up, as well will be a priority, but they likely won't have to worry about anyone else getting a huge deal ahead of him. All of the other top quarterbacks all got paid. Mahomes, Allen, Burrow, Jackson, Love, Hurts, Prescott, Goff, Lawrence - all have huge contracts. So Houston will have that benefit of knowing they are likely the only team with a huge quarterback contract looming.
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