Polarizing QB is Steelers Perfect Trade Option

If the Pittsburgh Steelers are going to take a major swing to fill their vacant starting quarterback role, the answer might lie with a former playoff opponent.

The Steelers are looking for a new starter for the 2026 season. The expectation is that Aaron Rodgers will return for another go in Pittsburgh, but that only delays the issue of finding a franchise QB another season.

If they want to take a huge swing and try to solve this problem, they may have to forego waiting for the draft and make a bold move. Utilizing the trade market, they can shock the NFL and grab the player that can help turn the offense around in 2026. That trade could be landing Houston Texans star C.J. Stroud, who has become a polarizing player as he enters his fourth NFL season.

McCarthy + Stroud = Perfect Match?

One sports analyst from Sports Illustrated believes the two are a perfect match. On a recent episode of MMQB podcast, Connor Orr and Marc Sessler discussed various QB situations around the league. When it came to the Steelers' never-ending quest for their new franchise player, Orr floated the possibility of Stroud coming in and taking the next step under new head coach Mike McCarthy.

“If Aaron Rodgers decides not to come back to Pittsburgh. You have a Steelers team with a late first-round draft pick, and this perpetual issue of not being good enough to trade up for a top-flight rookie,” he said. “If you’re the Steelers, and Mike McCarthy, is that the phone call that you make? Where, C.J. Stroud is a classic drop-back passer, with just enough athleticism sprinkled in there that could make it work for me. I’m like, man, that’s the team where I’m like, I wonder if they do it."

Orr might just be on to something. McCarthy's reputation as a QB whisperer is well-noted, and one of the areas he's helped multiple players reduce their turnovers. In the early 2000s with the New Orleans Saints, he helped Aaron Brooks go from 22 and 15 interceptions in 2001 and 2002 to just eight interceptions in 2003. Rodgers threw for single digit interception totals in eight consecutive seasons under McCarthy.

Mauybe that McCarthy magic can help Stroud limit those risky plays and settle into the Offensive Rookie of the Year QB he was in 2023.