The Arizona Cardinals have reportedly finalized a deal to trade 2024 No. 4 overall pick Marvin Harrison Jr. to the Houston Texans, NFL insiders Ian Rapoport and Adam Schefter reported.
The Cardinals will send Harrison and a seventh-round pick to the Texans in exchange for a 2027 second-round and seventh-round pick, per reports.
Head coach Demeco Ryans confirmed the news to reporters following Sunday’s Week 5 win over the Tennessee Titans.
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Word of a potential deal came on Saturday, though reports indicated the trade wouldn’t be completed until after Sunday’s games were played. Harrison was officially inactive Sunday when the Cardinals host the Detroit Lions for a Week 5 matchup.
The Arizona Cardinals are reportedly moving on from Marvin Harrison Jr., the fourth overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
(Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
The trade will reunite Harrison Jr. with quarterback C.J. Stroud, with whom he’d established an impeccable rapport with Harrison at Ohio State, where Stroud developed into a two-time Heisman Trophy finalist and the 2023 No. 2 overall pick.
The Indianapolis Colts, the team for which Harrison’s Pro Football Hall of Fame father starred, were legitimately interested in the former first-round wideout, per Stephen Holder, but another AFC South team edged them out of the race.
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Rumors of a potential trade have heated up in recent weeks following Harrison’s slow start to the 2026 campaign. A former Heisman finalist, Harrison has amassed a meager 5-85-1 stat line this season and is averaging just 21.3 receiving yards per game with a career-low 38.5% catch rate.
While Harrison’s struggled to live up to his billing so far in his professional career, another Cardinals wide receiver has found his stride. Michael Wilson, a 2023 third-rounder, had a breakout campaign last season, with 78 catches for 1,006 receiving yards and seven touchdowns, second on the team to All-Pro tight end Trey McBride. Wilson was rewarded with a three-year, $75 million contract extension this offseason.
Wilson currently leads a 1-3 Arizona team with 258 receiving yards. Harrison, meanwhile, has been targeted a head-scratching 13 times, as has rookie running back Jeremiyah Love, according to Pro Football Reference. Harrison clocked out with one reception in both the season opener and last week’s loss to the New York Giants, although he scored his lone touchdown in that game. He finished with zero catches in a Week 2 blowout loss to the Seattle Seahawks. His most success under first-year head coach Mike LaFleur was in Week 3, when he reeled in three passes for 40 yards in a setback against the San Francisco 49ers.
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The thought was that perhaps a change in offensive scheme could maximize the skill set of the 6-foot-3, 220-pound Harrison. After all, he hardly enjoyed consistent production under former Cardinals offensive coordinator Drew Petzing, who’s now in his first season as the Lions’ OC. At one point, Marvin Harrison Sr. even aired out his frustration about Arizona’s offense.
With Petzing calling the shots, Harrison Jr.’s limited involvement was a frequent talking point during Harrison’s first two seasons in the league. So was the on-field connection between then-quarterback Kyler Murray and Harrison, a dynamic that stuttered and flummoxed occasionally. Not coming back to the ball at times or not high-pointing it at others didn’t help Harrison’s cause. Untimely drops also haunted him, most notably one that turned into a Seahawks interception during Arizona’s early-season “Thursday Night Football” defeat last year.
But even with Murray and Petzing gone, Harrison hasn’t taken off in the desert. Actually, his role has shriveled up.
Cardinals quarterback Jacoby Brissett is clearly in lockstep with Wilson, and McBride has accrued a team-high 46 targets through four games, whereas Harrison has often appeared to be an afterthought in the LaFleur offense.
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Harrison told reporters this week that he wasn’t paying attention to the trade speculation.
Yet it’s important to point out that Harrison hired a pair of agents on Sept. 23 — he previously didn’t have an agent — three days after he went without a catch against the Seahawks, according to ESPN, which cited the NFLPA online database.
Harrison reportedly hired that representation to navigate a possible trade. While the Cardinals already paid Harrison his $22.5 million signing bonus, per ESPN, whichever team acquires him will have to decide on his fifth-year option this coming offseason.
Despite Harrison’s underwhelming numbers in Arizona, he isn’t far removed from a remarkable college career with the Buckeyes. Plus, he’s teased his tantalizing talent with the Cardinals. As a rookie in 2024, he caught 62 passes for 885 yards and eight touchdowns. His sophomore campaign was adversely affected by injuries, but he mounted 608 receiving yards and four scores across 12 games in a season he ended on IR.
A change of scenery could be what Harrison needs to realize his potential, or at least play a bigger role in Year 3 of his NFL career.
