HOUSTON -- Texans GM Nick Caserio said there's a "possibility" the team and quarterback C.J. Stroud can reach a contract extension.
The Texans opened training camp practices on Wednesday and Caserio was asked about contract negotiations with the Texans' Pro Bowl quarterback(2023), whose fifth-year option for 2027 was picked up in April.
Stroud is eligible for an extension for the first time since arriving in 2023 as the second overall pick, but a deal has yet to be reached.
"We've had productive conversations over the course of the spring," Caserio said. "There's a possibility that something could come to fruition. We'll work through it and see what happens."
League sources tell ESPN that talks between the two sides haven't been significant in terms of an agreement being close. When asked if negotiations could linger into the regular season, Caserio simply said the team was taking negotiations "one day at a time."
"If it doesn't happen in training camp then we'll have to make a decision on what we feel makes the most sense." Caserio added.
Stroud is content to focus on football while his representatives and the team iron out a deal.
"I'm focused on ball. Trying to hold my bargain down on the football side, doing what I can and should be doing as a quarterback of this team," Stroud said. "I'm letting them handle it and it seems like everything is going great. Football is what got me to even have the conversation to be able to get a second contract, so I gotta focus on football."
In his three years as Houston's starting quarterback, Stroud has compiled 28 regular-season wins (seventh most among NFL QBs during that span), a 54.9 QBR (20th), 10,876 passing yards (ninth), 62 touchdowns passing (tied for 14th) and 25 interceptions (12th fewest among quarterbacks with at least 30 starts). He has led the Texans to two AFC South divisional titles and the playoffs in each of his three seasons at the helm. By contrast, the Texans went just 11-38-1 in the three seasons prior to Stroud's arrival.
After a historic rookie season in 2023 in which he threw for 4,108 yards in 15 games with 23 touchdowns and only five interceptions, Stroud's stats have regressed over each of the last two seasons. In 2024, he had 3,727 passing yards with 20 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in 17 games while being sacked 52 times, the second most in the league during the 2024 campaign.
Last season, Stroud was on pace for almost 4,000 passing yards until he missed three games with a concussion suffered in Week 9 against the Denver Broncos. The former No. 2 overall pick finished the regular season with 3,041 passing yards, 19 touchdowns and eight interceptions.
Stroud received an avalanche of criticism for his 2025 playoff production after struggling with ball security (seven total turnovers) in two playoff games, including four first-half interceptions in Houston's divisional round loss to the New England Patriots.