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Bleacher Report’s Brad Gagnon named the Pittsburgh Steelers, who might not re-sign Aaron Rodgers this offseason, a potential suitor for Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud.<\/p>\n
Pundits have linked the Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a> to numerous free agent and 2026 rookie quarterbacks this offseason. The weekend ahead of NFL<\/a> free agency, Bleacher Report\u2019s Brad Gagnon again named the Steelers a potential suitor for a quarterback they would have to acquire in a trade \u2014 C.J. Stroud<\/a>.<\/p>\n Gagnon included Stroud on a list of surprising NFL offseason trade candidates for 2026. The BR analyst then named the Steelers one of four potential suitors.<\/p>\n \u201cJust two years ago, Stroud was the Offensive Rookie of the Year in one of the greatest debut seasons in NFL history. And there\u2019s also that thing about their general manager saying talk of a potential Stroud trade is \u2018moronic<\/a>,’\u201d wrote Gagnon to explain why Stroud is a surprising trade candidate<\/a>.<\/p>\n But the BR analyst countered with: \u201cThe 24-year-old has fallen off a cliff since that 2023 campaign, and he may or may not have hit rock bottom when turning it over seven times in two playoff games this January. The Texans<\/a> are arguably wasting a window with an elite defense, and Stroud will become much more expensive very soon.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition to the Steelers, Gagnon named the New York Jets<\/a>, Arizona Cardinals and Miami Dolphins the quarterback\u2019s potential suitors.<\/p>\n As for a possible offer, Gagnon wrote \u201cat least two first-round draft picks.\u201d<\/p>\n He also previously suggested the Steelers as a suitor for Stroud in late February<\/a>.<\/p>\n Why the Steelers Could Pursue QB C.J. Stroud<\/p>\n As Gagnon alluded to, two years ago, the idea of the Houston Texans<\/a> dealing their Offensive Rookie of the Year winning quarterback would have been downright insane. It\u2019s still a little nuts to even suggest it this offseason.<\/p>\n But Stroud played terribly in two playoff games for Houston. Steelers fans saw that first hand in the AFC wild card round.<\/p>\n While the Pittsburgh defense played well in the first half of that contest, forcing Stroud to make some mistakes, the quarterback also committed embarrassing, unforced errors.<\/p>\n Overall, Stroud completed<\/a> just 51.9% of his passes, averaging 5.8 yards per attempt during the playoffs. He also had two touchdowns versus five interceptions.<\/p>\n During the regular season, Stroud avoided committing a lot of turnovers. But he also wasn\u2019t the same electric quarterback from two years ago.<\/p>\n He posted 7.2 yards per pass and 11.1 yards per completion in 2025. Stroud had 8.2 yards per attempt and 12.9 yards per completion as a rookie.<\/p>\n The Texans quarterback also threw just 19 touchdowns in 14 starts last season.<\/p>\n After Stroud\u2019s terrible playoff run, maybe the Steelers could buy low on the Texans signal-caller. He could be just the talent quarterback developer Mike McCarthy needs to begin his Pittsburgh coaching tenure.<\/p>\n How Much Would a Stroud Trade Cost the Steelers?<\/p>\n The Steelers buying low on the Texans quarterback is a nice concept. But it\u2019s far from what would likely happen.<\/p>\n In Gagnon\u2019s pitch, Stroud is worth at least two first-round picks. Obviously, giving that up isn\u2019t buying low. Instead, it\u2019s extremely risky.<\/p>\n Stroud could be another disappointing year away from being on the outs in Houston. The Steelers would really have to believe Stroud is going to improve and show that improvement under McCarthy to send two first-rounders to Houston for him.<\/p>\n Even then, it\u2019s unlikely the Texans would bite. There\u2019s a reason why Houston\u2019s GM called Stroud trade rumors moronic.<\/p>\n For Steelers fans, they are reminiscent of the rumors that linked Pittsburgh to Jacksonville Jaguars<\/a> quarterback Trevor Lawrence<\/a> last year.<\/p>\n Lawrence struggled in 2024, which led some to believe he could be shipped to another quarterback-needy team. Big Ten Network\u2019s Ryan Burr reported the Steelers were interested<\/a>.<\/p>\n But nothing materialized in terms of a Lawrence trade to Pittsburgh. Lawrence then led the Jaguars to a 13-4 record last season.<\/p>\n More than likely, no trade will materialize with Stroud this offseason either. It wouldn\u2019t hurt the Steelers, though, to inquire. General manager Omar Khan shouldn\u2019t leave any stone unturned in trying to find a franchise quarterback.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tDave Holcomb<\/a> is a sports reporter covering the NFL and MLB for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Pittsburgh Steelers, Philadelphia Eagles and Detroit Lions. Originally from Pittsburgh, Holcomb has covered college and professional sports for outlets including FanSided, Rotowire and Yardbarker. More about Dave Holcomb<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Steelers\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Bleacher Report’s Brad Gagnon named the Pittsburgh Steelers, who might not re-sign Aaron Rodgers this offseason, a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":522290,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[436],"tags":[49,48,514,82],"class_list":["post-522289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=522289"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522289\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/522290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=522289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=522289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=522289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}