Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud prefers another New York QB over the Jets’ Aaron Rodgers
For many NFL athletes, solidifying their legacy in the league is important. For some, that’s “stat padding” for individual achievements, and for others, it’s ring chasing to obtain as many championships as possible. Appearing on the “Million Dollaz Worth of Game Podcast” on Sunday, Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud was asked if he would prefer to have a career like former New York Giants signal-caller Eli Manning or current New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Stroud did not hesitate to give an answer.
“You want the rings,” declared the 2023 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. “You know I [referring to Manning] got two.”
Eli or Rodgers? Rings or MVP’s? pic.twitter.com/UNcdG1Jt6i
— MILLION $ WORTH OF GAME (@mworthofgame) June 3, 2024
While Manning does, in fact, have more current Super Bowl wins than Rodgers, preferring his career over the Jets’ quarterback is likely an unpopular opinion (outside of those who dislike Rodgers for opinions unrelated to football). After all, the two careers are without comparison.
In his 16-year career, Manning’s only individual accolades include four Pro Bowls and the Walter Payton Man of the Year award in 2016. Meanwhile, Rodgers has 10 Pro Bowl nods, four NFL MVPs, four First-Team All-Pro selections, and an Offensive Player of the Year award (2011) while being selected to the 2010s All-Decade Team.
Manning’s career might end with a trip to Canton, but there’s little question that the Jets’ signal caller will be a first-ballot Hall of Fame inductee when it’s all said and done.
Because of that, it’s hard to see the value of Stroud’s opinion on this question. Yet, this isn’t the only time Stroud threw shade at Rodgers in the podcast.
Continuing their conversation on championships in the NFL, Stroud made an interesting comment about why Rodgers might not have won more Super Bowls with the Packers.
“You know what I think it is,” started Stroud. “I’ve talked to Tom Brady, about this because he’s a good mentor to me … what he told me is his teammates, and how he treats his teammates. And that’s where I think it falls off [on Rodgers not having more team success in his career]. We don’t know how Aaron Rodgers treats his teammates, but you can guarantee that Tom Brady treats his teammates right because how he got those rings.”
While Stroud implied that the Jets quarterback being on the same level as Tom Brady was ridiculous, he suggests that the Los Angeles Rams’ Matthew Stafford very well could be. In fact, Stroud agreed with the host that Rodgers was an overrated quarterback. The Texans’ signal-caller went as far as to say that if Stafford had the same teams as Rodgers did in Green Bay, Stafford would have won more Super Bowls.
“If you give Matthew Stafford a chance like Aaron Rodgers had, I guarantee you he might have had more rings,” said Stroud. “I think he would have like three or four [rings].”
Given his comments, it’s little surprise that the second-year player left the Jets’ quarterback off of his top-5 quarterback list for this upcoming season, too. Instead, he placed Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, himself, Dak Prescott, and Jalen Hurts on the list.
While Rodgers is no stranger to this type of negative rhetoric, the outside criticism has seemed to multiply tenfold since signing with the Jets in 2023.
As for Stroud, he should probably worry more about the Jets’ defense than criticizing their quarterback. Last season, the Jets held Stroud and the Texans to six points in Week 14. Stroud had a mere 91 passing yards and zero touchdowns, being outperformed by Zach Wilson (301 yards, two TDs). And as his friend Nathaniel Hackett did against the Broncos last season, Rodgers could have the last laugh this year. Houston will come to MetLife Stadium on Halloween in Week 9 to take on the Jets on Thursday Night Football.
