TEMPE, Ariz. — The Arizona Cardinals are finalizing a deal to trade Marvin Harrison Jr., sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter and NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
The Cardinals informed Harrison that he will be inactive for Sunday’s game against the Detroit Lions as the trade is completed.
One team that has had talks with Arizona is Houston, which has been, and is thought to be, squarely in the mix for Harrison, sources told Schefter and Rapoport. If Harrison is traded to the Texans, he would be reunited with his college quarterback C.J. Stroud.
The Indianapolis Colts are not involved in talks for Harrison, a source told ESPN’s Stephen Holder. The Cardinals were asking for a second-round choice and more, per source, for the son of Marvin Harrison Sr., the Hall of Famer who owns multiple Indianapolis receiving records.
Marvin Harrison Jr. has been the center of trade speculation for weeks as he got off to a slower-than-expected start to the season. He had just one catch in the first two games, fueling chatter that his time in Arizona could be coming to an end this season, short of his rookie contract ending.
Harrison has five catches on 12 targets for 85 yards and a touchdown through four games this season as the fifth-most-targeted player on offense. Tight end Trey McBride, wide receiver Michael Wilson, wide receiver Kendrick Bourne and running back Jeremiyah Love all have more targets than Harrison and he’s tied with the sixth-most receptions.
Harrison’s only touchdown of the season came in Sunday’s 36-24 loss to the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium. After the touchdown, while sitting on the turf, Harrison raised his right index finger to the mouth area of his face mask to indicate a “shush” motion. Asked Thursday about what message he wanted to get across with the celebration, Harrison said: “No message.”
Harrison said this week he hasn’t paid attention to the trade speculation.
But on Sept. 23, Harrison hired Todd France and Tory Dandy as his agents, according to the NFLPA online database. Harrison did not have an agent prior to then.
The No. 4 pick in the 2024 draft, Harrison had 1,578 yards and 13 catches in 33 games with the Cardinals. He never hit 1,000 yards in a season, and dealt with foot injuries and appendicitis last season that led to him playing in just 12 games in which he caught just 41 passes for 608 yards and four touchdowns.
As a rookie, Harrison had 885 yards and eight touchdowns on 62 catches.
After Sunday’s loss, coach Mike LaFleur said he still has faith in Harrison.
“Yeah, my confidence is high in Marv,” LaFleur said.
Entering the weekend, Arizona told teams it is looking for first-round value for Harrison, yet other teams have viewed him as worthy of some form of second-day-of-the-draft-pick compensation, per sources.
Sources say the 2024 first-rounder hired France and Dandy to try to navigate a potential trade, and the interest has been significant over the past few weeks.
France and Dandy have both engineered high-powered trades before, with France working behind the scenes on the Brian Burns trade to the Giants, while Dandy was integral in the A.J. Brown trade to the Patriots. The hope had been to work on a trade quietly,
Harrison is due $4 million this year and $5.62 million next year and also has a fifth-year option decision coming up this offseason. His $22.5 million signing bonus was already paid by the Cardinals.
Some of the urgency for a trade can be explained in that acquiring teams want to have him for as many games as possible, not only to play him but also to help get information for a looming fifth-year option decision.
With the NFL’s trade deadline now under a month away, the league has seen three trades in the past two weeks: Minnesota sent quarterback J.J. McCarthy to the Giants, Pittsburgh sent cornerback Joey Porter Jr. to the Cowboys, and Philadelphia sent center Cam Jurgens to the Ravens.
