C.J. Stroud hasn't yet lifted the Lombardi Trophy like fellow AFC star Patrick Mahomes. He hasn't secured an MVP award like Josh Allen or Lamar Jackson. But by the start of the 2026 season, the Houston Texans quarterback could have something all three NFL stars lack: a fully guaranteed contract.
Perhaps the idea of fully guaranteed versus some partial guarantee isn't that important to most fans. However, this isn't the case for the NFL's top quarterbacks. Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson caused shockwaves across NFL front offices when he signed a $230-million fully guaranteed deal in 2022, and Kirk Cousins agreed to a fully guaranteed $84 million deal with the Minnesota Vikings in 2018.