Marvin Harrison Jr.’s name is starting to surface in trade chatter, and the debate around his value is just as messy as the production that’s fueled it.
The Cardinals wideout was taken fourth overall in the 2024 NFL Draft, but his output hasn’t matched the kind of expectations that came with that kind of draft capital. NFL reporter Charles Robinson dug into the possibility of a trade and spoke with front-office sources around the league about what Harrison might actually fetch.
One general manager framed the whole conversation around the burden of the hype.
“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 view Harrison as worth a projected late second-round pick. That valuation leans on what he did at Ohio State, along with what one source described as 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 in the league would go a different route. Four executives Robinson spoke with pegged Harrison closer to a third-round pick plus another piece, such as a late-round selection or a package involving pick swaps. One GM pointed to the Cowboys’ deal for George Pickens, in which Dallas gave up a third- and fifth-round pick for Pickens and a sixth-round pick, as a useful comparison.
There’s even a school of thought that Harrison could be moved in a player-for-player deal. One GM brought up the Titans-Jets trade of DT T’Vondre Sweat for DE Jermaine Johnson and mentioned Jaguars WR Brian Thomas Jr. as a possible name in that kind of swap.
As for where Harrison might land, Robinson crossed off the Rams, Packers and 49ers because of the scheme overlap with Arizona. He said a team that already knows Harrison would make more sense, pointing to the Bills and Texans.
Houston quarterback C.J. Stroud played with Harrison at Ohio State in 2022, while Bills wide receivers coach Drew Terrell worked with him in Arizona in 2024 and 2025.
Robinson also identified Bills wideout Keon Coleman as a logical one-for-one swap candidate.
He also said any receiver-needy team could get involved, naming the Patriots, Steelers, Colts, Texans and Bills. Robinson noted that a stronger stretch of production would shut down the speculation for now, but if that doesn’t happen, Harrison could become a deadline name if Arizona slides and the market for receivers heats up.
Harrison is 24 and the son of Hall of Famer Marvin Harrison. At Ohio State, he was a three-year starter and won the 2023 Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year award, was a consensus All-American and took home the 2023 Fred Biletnikoff Award.
Arizona selected him fourth overall in 2024, 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 and caught 41 passes for 608 yards, a 14.8 yards-per-catch average, and four touchdowns. In 2026, he has appeared in three games and caught four passes on nine targets for 73 yards.
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