The Houston Texans have quickly built one of the most terrifying defenses in the entire NFL under head coach DeMeco Ryans. But after a spectacular rookie campaign, their quarterback, C.J. Stroud, has had diminishing returns in each of the past two years.
As a result, rumors are circulating about the franchise potentially being interested in Baker Mayfield. After reviving his career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he is nearing the end of his contract with no extension coming up so far. One Hall of Famer, though, is firmly against the idea.
The Similarities Between C.J. Stroud and Baker Mayfield
Since Stroud came into the league as a first-round pick, the two quarterbacks have put together very similar resumes. His rookie year coincided with Mayfield’s arrival in Tampa Bay, marking a major milestone for both.
In his three years with the Buccaneers, the former first overall pick has tallied 12,237 passing yards and 95 passing touchdowns against 37 interceptions for a passer rating of 97.4, while adding over 900 yards on the ground and five rushing touchdowns.
Stroud, on the other hand, had his best year as a rookie and has totaled 10,876 passing yards and 62 passing touchdowns against 25 interceptions for a passer rating of 93.5, while adding 609 yards on the ground alongside four rushing touchdowns.
On PFN’s QB Impact Metrics, too, the two have been virtually inseparable. In 2025, Stroud ranked 15th while Mayfield fell all the way to 22nd. But the former Heisman Trophy winner had a gigantic gap in 2024, when he finished at number 4 as Stroud toiled away at 31.
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On a yearly basis, though, the Texans star takes the edge over Mayfield, as he eeked past him in 2023 as well, ranking at number 10 with the latter at 17. Even though the former Cleveland Browns star has had a higher peak, he has also been more inconsistent.
With very little separating the two, it also dragged the only player inducted to both the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, Warren Moon, into the discussion. A scintillating career for the Edmonton Eskimos preceded his run in the NFL.
Spending a decade with the Houston Oilers, he led them to seven playoff appearances and won Offensive Player of the Year in 1990 after leading the league in both passing yards and touchdowns.
During an appearance on “Sports Radio 610,” Moon went against the idea of swapping Stroud for Mayfield. Going a step further, he provided an in-depth explanation for his choice between the two quarterbacks.
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“I don’t think so,” Moon said about whether the Texans should replace Stroud with Mayfield. “I think if you look, if you polled most people, they’d rather have C.J. over Baker, but I guarantee you that Tampa would come after C.J. if the Texans tried to go after Baker. He’s going to be very highly coveted around this league.”
But ultimately, the biggest reason for his belief was the massive age difference between the two. “C.J. will, especially because he’s a young guy, and he’s not even in his prime yet. He’s still got his best years ahead of him. So I’m not worried about it.”
“I know there’s a lot of panic in this city, but I’m not worried about it,” Moon added. “And hopefully a lot of other people aren’t worried about it as well.”
Given his ties to the city and the success he had at the quarterback position, the nine-time Pro Bowler’s voice should carry a lot of weight.
But it remains to be seen whether the Texans entertain a trade to fix their quarterback situation. Behind a historically expensive defense, a solid quarterback could be the recipe for a deep playoff run, similar to what the Seattle Seahawks accomplished last year.
However, the decision will rest with the organization to choose between the younger but more inconsistent Stroud and the older but higher-injury-risk Mayfield.
