Houston Texans QB C.J. Stroud has been nothing short of elite in his rookie season of NFL ball. He played like one of the top quarterbacks in the league and looks like a shoo-in for Offensive Rookie of the Year.
For how good Stroud is playing, you can be forgiven for forgetting he is just a rookie, and that means he is on a team-friendly rookie contract.
How Much Does C.J. Stroud Earn?
As the second overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, Stroud signed a four-year contract worth $36,279,243, as reported by Spotrac. The deal includes a $23,384,904 signing bonus and the whole contract guaranteed at signing.
Because of the $23 million bonus paid at signing, Stroud’s career earnings so far are $24,134,904.
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During the 2023 season, Stroud earned a base salary of just $750,000 with a bonus of $5.8 million. He earns the same amount of signing bonus every year of his contract, which means the Texans take a cap hit of just $6.5 million for his rookie year.
In 2024, his salary goes up to $2.3 million, carrying a cap hit of $8.2 million. The contract continues to rise, but it is still small in NFL QB terms. In 2025, the QB’s salary rises to $4 million and goes up again in 2026 to $5.6 million.
Throughout the four-year rookie contract, Stroud’s cap hit never goes above $11.5 million. The team-friendly deal allows the Texans to build around him. As a playoff team in 2023, Houston is way ahead of schedule, and as they have found their future in Stroud, they are now set to add more names around him, as they have the cap room to play around with.
In total cash, the contract makes Stroud the 32nd-highest-paid QB in the NFL. If Stroud continues his ascendancy as one of the great young quarterbacks in the league, then the Texans will have to give him a monster contract toward the end of his rookie deal.
For the Texans, it is now about making the most of having a QB on a rookie deal. It brings tremendous benefits when a franchise can use the rookie deal to their advantage, as it saves them so much against the cap. That money can then be spent upgrading other areas of the roster.
While Stoud is signed for four years, the Texans could choose to pick up his fifth-year option, which isn’t until 2027.
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