Texans' Extension Pause on C.J. Stroud Could Drive Up Bears' Price for Caleb Williams

The Houston Texans shelled out a massive $150 million extension to defensive end Will Anderson Jr. this offseason, but chose to take the 'wait-and-see' approach with quarterback C.J. Stroud (though they did pick up his 5th-year option). This comes as no surprise given Stroud's regression since his dominant rookie season in which he won Offensive Rookie of the Year honors in 2023. Ironically, this extension pause could work against the Chicago Bears, depending on the timing of it, when they try to work out an extension with Caleb Williams.

How C.J. Stroud's contract extension could affect Caleb Williams and the Bears

In an interview following the conclusion of the 2025 NFL season, Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles said he's awaiting the green light to sign Caleb Williams to a massive contract extension. It's almost too bad that Williams won't be eligible for an extension until next offseason, because there's reason to believe that his 2025 performance was enough of a green light to lock him down on a new contract right now. By this time next year, pending results from the 2026 season, Williams' asking price could reset the quarterback market, currently topped by Dak Prescott's contract worth an average of $60 million per year.

Meanwhile, Houston's pause on extension discussions with their own quarterback could drive Williams' price up even further. If Stroud has a breakout season of his own in 2026 and looks more like the rookie phenom we saw in 2023, Houston will likely race to sign him to a long-term deal, one that probably surpasses Prescott's. In that scenario, the Bears would have a new, even higher number to beat in their negotiations with Williams.

Granted, this is a good problem to have, but a problem nonetheless, especially as other important role players, such as Rome Odunze, may also soon command hefty contract extensions, too.

A tough schedule in 2026 could send Caleb Williams the wrong way in contract negotiations

Of course, the Bears may not get to experience this good problem of having to pay an elite quarterback at the top of the market. The Bears face the NFL's hardest strength of schedule in 2026, and as CBS Sports' John Breech noted, the team that has the hardest first-place schedule suffers an average regression of four wins from their previous total. For the Bears, that would mean a 7-10 season, a likely last-place finish in the NFC North, and what would almost certainly mean a big regression from Caleb Williams.

In this bleak potential future, not only will the Bears likely call a pause on contract negotiations with their quarterback, as the Texans did with Stroud, but they would have to at least consider the possibility that they would never offer him a second contract.

The Bottom Line

As aforementioned, figuring out how to pay an elite quarterback the kind of money that elite quarterbacks make in today's NFL is a good problem to have. It's especially good for a franchise like the Bears, who have been wandering in the quarterback wilderness ever since the end of the Sid Luckman era.

But it's still a problem that Ryan Poles would have to handle. Watching the Houston Texans ink C.J. Stroud to a market-setting deal would only make it worse. If both quarterbacks show up and show out in 2026, it would behoove Poles to move as quickly as possible to tie Williams to the Bears through the 2020's and beyond.

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