Questions about Marvin Harrison Jr.’s future in Arizona are starting to follow the Cardinals receiver into the season, and NFL reporter Charles Robinson’s latest reporting lays out why the conversation has picked up around the league.
The basic tension is clear: Harrison was drafted fourth overall in 2024, but his production has not matched that kind of investment. That gap has opened the door to trade speculation, and Robinson dug into what front offices think he might fetch if Arizona ever decided to listen.
One general manager framed the evaluation problem this way: “He is a player that is getting judged relative to what he was supposed to be, while people are losing sight of the fact that he is still a useful player,” the GM said.
Robinson reported that three front offices believe Harrison would be worth a projected late second-round pick. Their thinking is tied to what he did at Ohio State and the “uneven nature of the Arizona Cardinals franchise that he was drafted into.”
“I think what we saw at Ohio State is still in there. But [in just over two seasons] he’s had two coaching staffs, [two] quarterbacks, an injury - it fits into the production and probably where his head is.
… Football environment comes out. That’s not meant to criticize this [current] Arizona coaching staff, either.
I’m sure they inherited whatever happened with Marvin in 2025,”
a personnel executive said.
Others around the league see a slightly different price point. Robinson wrote that four front office executives valued Harrison at a third-round pick plus an additional piece, such as a late-round selection or a package involving pick swaps. One GM pointed to the Cowboys’ deal for receiver George Pickens, in which Dallas gave up a third- and fifth-round pick for Pickens and a sixth-round pick, as a useful reference.
There’s also at least one executive who believes Harrison could be part of a one-for-one player trade if the right fit emerged. That GM cited the Titans-Jets swap of DT T’Vondre Sweat for DE Jermaine Johnson and brought up Jaguars receiver Brian Thomas Jr. as a possible name in that kind of deal.
As for where Harrison might land, Robinson knocked out a few obvious possibilities. He ruled out the Rams, Packers and 49ers because of the scheme overlap with Arizona. He also said any team acquiring Harrison should already know him well, which is why he pointed to the Bills and Texans.
That connection matters. Houston quarterback C.J.
Stroud played with Harrison at Ohio State in 2022. Bills wide receivers coach Drew Terrell worked with Harrison in Arizona in 2024 and 2025.
Robinson also suggested Bills receiver Keon Coleman could make sense in a one-for-one swap.
He also named a broader list of receiver-needy teams that could fit the market: the Patriots, Steelers, Colts, Texans and Bills.
Robinson’s bottom line is straightforward enough: if Harrison’s production climbs in the coming weeks, the trade chatter should fade. If it doesn’t, and Arizona slips while other teams get desperate for receiver help, a deadline move is on the table.
Harrison Jr. is 24 and the son of Hall of Famer Marvin Harrison. At Ohio State, he was a three-year starter, the 2023 Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year, a consensus All-American and the winner of the 2023 Fred Biletnikoff Award.
Arizona took him fourth overall in the 2024 NFL Draft, and he signed a four-year, $35,374,742 contract that included a $22,547,084 signing bonus, $35,374,742 guaranteed and an average annual salary of $8,843,686.
In 2025, Harrison played 12 games for the Cardinals and finished with 41 catches for 608 yards, a 14.8 yards-per-catch average, and four touchdowns.
This season, he has appeared in three games and has four receptions on nine targets for 73 yards.
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