Is CJ worth a max contract? Are we making a mistake ?

Going back and re-watching the game from a perspective where I could see all 22 players, it's pretty clear that CJ is one of the bigger problems. Sure we can blame the coaches for having WAY too much faith in Stroud and giving him far too much responsibility that he's not capable of handling, but I think we can also blame him for not being good enough.

He gets fooled by the most basic tactics of hiding where pressure is coming from, so he can't call out the right protection schemes, he has no awareness of when that pressure is coming so he can't change the play to get the ball out quickly because he often doesn't know it himself until right before he's hit. His processing speed is WAY too slow, he simply doesn't see wide open receivers, or he doesn't see them when they are open and throws it so late that they are no longer open...or his throw is inaccurate.

He's just not doing the things he was doing as a rookie.

A good QB lifts the play of the guys around him, a game manager is a guy who needs everyone else to do the heavy lifting for him as he goes through the motions. He's looking A LOT more like a mediocre to bad game manager this season.

I get that he's going to get every excuse in the world from certain parts of the fanbase, but when you say a QB needs an elite O line and elite run game to be decent, you are saying that QB is terrible.

 

Maybe 4 1sts and 1-2 good starters?

 

There’s no Max contacts in the NFL. This ain’t the NBA.

 

Watson got 3 and he was older, more expensive, coming off not playing for a year, and being toxic. No QB like cj has ever been traded so there's no precedent to go off of but that's my best guess if you actually put him on the market this offseason. A worse qb plus picks would be possible? Maybe something like bo nix and 2-3 1sts?

 

Technically the max would be whatever the cap is? So his max would be in the 400/year range.

 

Not sure Bo Nix is worse than Stroud at this point

 

I never ignore infrastructure when evaluating so mine will always be a lot different (like when i was railing against purdy for mvp and getting a ton of pushback). Like if you put hurts on the texans the texans go into the tank these past 3 years but on a superteam hurts looks passable even though he mostly sucks.

 

Giving bottom tier quarterbacks large contracts will definitely set you back…Unfortunately the Texans are that stupid…

 

Time to admit there is something to that S2 test.

I think for us to get maximum value out of CJ we need to turn him loose and allow CJ to improvise like Josh Allen does.

If he has to play within the offense and continues to struggle we need to sit him and play Mills

 

He doesn’t have the athleticism or ability to play like Allen unfortunately.
He is very much a pocket type passer that needs good footwork to be on time

 

I am surprised at the 180 we have done on Stroud, and I include myself in that, he is my guy but dam, he hasn't picked up the process to read the D at the line of scrimmage and change the plays, he shows flashes of brilliance but then overthrows guys by a mile. To be an elite team you have to have an elite QB and I am not 100% sure Stroud is that guy............watching guys like Baker and Stafford, they just have an extra gear and to be fair, CJ has been running for his life the last 2 seasons, some his fault and some is scheme and the O Line. It's not my money, but if it was would I pay him $60-65 million per year, no I would not and that's painful as hell to admit. Make no mistake, CJ will set the market, that's the NFL way (see Brock Purdy and Lawrence) and you will be "stuck"...............what's the alternative though, draft another QB and start the process all over, I don't think so. If Mike Mcdaniels gets fired, I would love to bring him in, give him the keys to the offense and get out of his way. Draft a stud on the O Line and go get at least 2 QUALITY O Line man. Hell, I don't know squat but I have seen a shift in CJ`s attitude to know when someone is frustrated and or pissed. Demeco has several problems and well see how he maneuvers through them

 

Baker Mayfield is a 30-year old, 8-year veteran on his fourth team. If anything, Mayfield is THE poster child for why you don't give up on QBs too early, and certainly not when they're 23 years old. Good lord.... (And I'm guessing you specifically mentioned Baker and Stafford because we played them - but Stafford is going to the Hall of Fame - maybe not set Canton as the standard?...)

Look... Josh Allen didn't make his leap until year 3 - and that was the COVID season. He was 24. Any team in football could have made an offer for Lamar Jackson when he was 26, and none did, in large part because there were still questions about him.

I could list... half a dozen other really good current QBs who did not know up from down when they were 23. Giving up on CJ Stroud - unless this year just completely unravels past a very obvious breaking point - would be the biggest mistake this franchise has ever made - and they let a youth minister run the for years.

 

He led the team to playoff victories at ages 22 and 23. That's already more than some qbs around the league that throw away games in the post season to the tune of 5 ints.
And he is still growing as a player. Sucks that the cash to keep these young qbs is ridiculous and you have to maneuver around building some remnant of pass protection. But that's why they pay BDN.

 

After his first year, I would have said yes. Now, no, he is not. I would like to see him function with a solid offensive line and a skilled play caller. We have neither at the moment.