C.J. Stroud made the Pro Bowl as a rookie. He has not been the same quarterback the past two seasons, despite winning a playoff game in each of his first three seasons.
Stroud threw five interceptions in the 2025 postseason, including four in a 28-16 loss to the Patriots in the divisional round.
It begs the question: How committed are the Texans to their quarterback?
They are likely to exercise the fifth-year option on Stroud’s contract, which would guarantee him $25.9 million for 2026, but they appear in no hurry to complete a long-term extension. General Manager Nick Caserio has said only that Stroud is the Texans’ starting quarterback for 2026, offering no insight into the future beyond this season.
Cal McNair, in an interview with Jonathan Alexander of the Houston Chronicle, would say only that they support Stroud.
“We’re totally behind him,” McNair told Alexander. “He’s totally bought into being our quarterback and all that entails.
“We all want to get better every year. He’s doing that. We’re doing that. Everyone is doing that in the organization. Everybody is trying to get better every day.”
Stroud, who threw a career-high 12 interceptions in 2024 and a career-low 19 touchdowns in 2025, has not played good enough the past two seasons for a team that had the No. 6 defense in 2024 and the No. 1 defense in 2025. McNair, though, isn’t listening to the criticism of his quarterback.
“I will let them do that and like I said, we’ll try to get better every year, top to bottom,” McNair said.
Edge rusher Jadeveon Clowney remains a free agent.
That is not unusual for Clowney. In the past four years, he signed one-year contracts on Sept. 14 (with the Cowboys in 2025), March 27 (with the Panthers in 2024), Aug. 18 (with the Ravens in 2023) and May 22 (with the Browns in 2022).
Clowney, 33, is doing what he does every time this time of year — working out at his home in Houston and waiting.
“That’s the usual for me,” Clowney told Aaron Wilson of KPRC. “The usual, all season. Come in, stand on my grind. I got a lot left in the tank. I don’t know if other people know that, but I know that. I can continue to prove that to people and go out there and show people I’m going to do that.”
Clowney has played for seven teams in 12 years, signing mostly one-year deals. He could have an eighth home this season, likely on a one-year deal.
He spent last season with the Cowboys, totaling 8.5 sacks and 10 quarterback hits in 13 games.
The Cowboys, though, moved on this offseason when they traded with the Packers for edge rusher Rashan Gary. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones confirmed the team will not re-sign Clowney on Tuesday.
“It’s real hard when you look at how Clowney came on last year and the snaps he gave us,” Jones said, via video from Nick Harris of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “It’s real hard not to have a place there for Clowney, but you can’t have it all. You just can’t have it all. If things go right for us, we’ve already made a signing. We’ve made trades. We think that’s the better way to go.”
Clowney has never had a double-digit sack season since the Texans drafted him No. 1 overall in 2014, and he has made the Pro Bowl only three times. But his 66.5 career sacks will entice someone to sign him for 2026.
“I done played in every scheme, ain’t no scheme I can’t play in, 3-4 to 4-3 to whatever damn scheme that you had,” Clowney told Wilson. “I think I done proved that I can play in them all and not just play in them, but also dominate in them schemes and do my job at a high level. I just came off a great season, looking forward to doing it again and, you know, continue to prove to people and show the balance.
“They know I’m available. I walk in every year and play well on every scheme and every team I’ve been on. I want to continue to do that going into year 13. Showing people wrong and proving that I can still play at a high level. It don’t matter where I end up, where I play at, just know I’m coming to show you again and prove people wrong again.”
It’s been more than four years since Brian Flores filed his landmark race discrimination lawsuit against the NFL and various teams. The case remains stuck at square one.
The six teams that are the subject of claims made by Flores, Steve Wilks, and Ray Horton — the Dolphins, Giants, Broncos, Texans, Cardinals, and Titans — continue to seek a stay of the proceedings, pending multiple different appeals. This week, the presiding judge declined to stay the litigation.
Currently, the Giants, Broncos, and Texans have a petition for appeal pending before the U.S. Supreme Court on the question of whether the claims made against them require mandatory arbitration. A ruling is expected within the next month or so. (The Supreme Court first has to accept the appeal before resolving the issue.)
The Dolphins, Cardinals, and Titans more recently had their efforts to force arbitration denied. That will inevitably be the subject of another petition for appeal to the Supreme Court, based on the broader conclusion that the NFL’s entire system of arbitration controlled by the NFL has been struck down.
Like most defendants to civil litigation, there’s value in slowing the process down as much as possible. Flores, Wilks, and Horton want to move the case along.
While, like all parties in civil cases, appeal rights can be exercised as to certain issues before the case has ended, there’s a point at which justice delayed becomes justice denied. It has been more than four years. At some point, it’s time to start addressing the merits of the case, and to stop spinning the wheels of the court system on the threshold question of where and how the case is going to be litigated.
As to the notion that the case would have moved faster if the plaintiffs had accepted the league’s arbitration procedures (even if the process is inherently rigged against them), consider this — the league’s designated arbitrator (according to the plaintiffs) did nothing with the claims for more than a year.
A defendant to a civil case can run, but it cannot hide. Unfortunately, the NFL and the six teams that have been sued have managed to run an ultramarathon in the effort to avoid having to answer the specific claims that Flores, Wilks, and Horton have made.
Common sense suggests that, if the NFL and the six teams had any real confidence in its arguments on the merits, they would eventually stand and fight instead.
Philadelphia has added a running back.
The Eagles announced on Thursday that they’ve agreed to terms on a one-year deal with Dameon Pierce.
Pierce, 25, was most recently with the Chiefs in 2025, appearing in one game for the club. He had signed with Kansas City off of Houston’s practice squad, where he’d previously spent all of his career.
The Texans selected Pierce in the fourth round of the 2022 draft. He appeared in 42 games with 20 starts for the club, rushing for 1,674 yards and eight touchdowns. He also caught 45 passes for 268 yards with one TD.
Pierce’s best season came in 2022 as a rookie, as he totaled 1,104 yards from scrimmage with five total touchdowns.
New Houston running back David Montgomery says he’s had respect for the Texans organization since long before the Lions traded him there last week.
Montgomery talked in a video for the Texans’ social media about his experience as a Lions-Texans joint practice in training camp, and hearing Lions coach Dan Campbell talk about his respect for Texans coach DeMeco Ryans.
“When I was in Detroit, Coach Campbell would talk about Coach Ryans all the time,” Montgomery said. “When we had joint practices or he was talking about another coach, he always would talk about Coach Ryans. So now, to be under him and see, and be a part of it now, I’m super excited. I couldn’t think of a more ideal place to be.”
Montgomery said he thinks his playing style is going to be a great fit in Houston.
“I’m just coming to be myself,” Montgomery said. “I think myself has been enough for my previous teams.”
The Texans think he’s enough to make a significant improvement to their offense in 2026.
