Marvin Harrison Jr. Is Getting Traded. Here’s Where He Could Land.

UPDATE: Shortly after this post was published, ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Ian Rapoport reported that the Cardinals traded Marvin Harrison Jr. and a seventh-round pick to the Texans in exchange for a second- and sixth-round pick.

This weekend brought us one of the stranger NFL reports we’ve seen in some time as, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Ian Rapoport, the Cardinals are trading wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. They just don’t know where they’re trading him—or they at least don’t want that information out yet.

The duo reported Saturday afternoon that Harrison would be inactive for Arizona’s Week 5 game against the Lions as the Cardinals finalize the trade. Unsurprisingly, ESPN’s Josh Weinfuss added that Harrison was not at Arizona’s team meeting Saturday night.

Harrison was drafted by the Cardinals with the No. 4 pick in the 2024 draft, but has since had a slow start to his NFL career. After notching career highs in receptions (62), yards (885) and touchdowns (eight) as a rookie, his numbers have dipped since. The Ohio State product has caught just five passes through the Cardinals’ first four games, and went viral for what some perceived as a lack of effort in the team’s Week 2 loss to the Seahawks.

“Arizona had told inquiring teams that it wanted first-round value in return for Harrison, the former No. 4 overall pick,” Schefter wrote on X Saturday. “Arizona is now comfortable enough with whatever offer it has received to make Harrison inactive on Sunday and know he is on the verge of being dealt.”

And so, with a trade seemingly imminent, here are three trade destinations for Harrison that make sense.

Houston Texans

Stroud, Harrison Jr. — If the Texans trade for Marvin Harrison Jr., they'll be reuniting him with his college quarterback, C.J. Stroud. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The Texans have been the presumed landing spot for Harrison since Saturday’s news broke, as ESPN reported that Houston has been “squarely in the mix” for the wide receiver.

After entering the 2026 season with Super Bowl aspirations, the Texans have started 1–4 and are struggling to find a consistent groove on offense. While they’ve scored 30-plus points twice, they’ve also failed to reach the 20-point mark twice—including a two-field goal showing in their 20–6 loss to the Bengals in Week 2.

Part of this has been the up-and-down nature of their wide receiver room. The Texans lost Jayden Higgins during the preseason with a torn ACL and responded by trading for Patriots pass catcher Kayshon Boutte, who has caught just nine passes on 14 targets through four games. Additionally, star pass catcher Nico Collins has missed two games due to injury, and Tank Dell remains on injured reserve after sustaining a knee injury at the end of the 2024 season.

Should Harrison be traded to the Texans, he would be reunited with his college quarterback C.J. Stroud, who helped him to a 77-catch, 1,263-yard, 14-touchdown sophomore season at Ohio State.

Las Vegas Raiders

The Raiders have arguably been the NFL’s biggest surprise through the first four weeks of the season. After going 3–14 in 2025 and firing head coach Pete Carroll, they hired Klint Kubiak, who—with the help of some key free-agent signings—has completely flipped the script and led Las Vegas to a 3–1 record to begin the campaign.

What the Raiders don’t have, though, is a true threat at wide receiver. While tight end Brock Bowers is a monster—as evidenced by his eight-catch, 110-yard, one-touchdown performance on Sunday—Las Vegas’s wide receiver room leaves much to be desired, with the likes of Tre Tucker, Cody White and Jalen Nailor leading the bunch.

During their 45–17 loss to the Patriots on Sunday, the Raiders struggled to get their passing attack going as they logged just 220 total yards through the air with quarterback Kirk Cousins in the game, while he completed just five passes to wide receivers.

Despite his woes with the Cardinals, Harrison has the potential to immediately become the Raiders’ top wide receiver target while also giving Kubiak a young, toolsy player to develop in his offensive system alongside rookie No. 1 pick Fernando Mendoza.

New England Patriots

The Patriots did their part this offseason to surround 2025 MVP runner-up Drake Maye with weapons, signing Romeo Doubs to a four-year, $68 million deal before trading for A.J. Brown from the Eagles. Brown, though, sustained a high ankle sprain in New England’s Week 1 loss to the Seahawks and was placed on injured reserve, while Doubs has put together an up-and-down start to his Patriots tenure thus far.

To make matters worse, veteran Mack Hollins left New England’s win over the Bills in Week 4 with a calf injury and did not return. He was then placed on injured reserve, meaning he’ll miss a minimum of four games. That leaves Doubs, Efton Chism III, DeMario Douglas and Kyle Williams as the lone healthy receivers remaining on the roster.

Patriots coach Mike Vrabel was asked this week if the team would look into adding another receiver amid the uncertainty at the position, to which he answered, “Sure. Anybody that can help us. We’ll go explore [that] here shortly.”

While it sounds like Brown could return to Patriots practice soon and ultimately be back on the playing field within the next few weeks, New England could still use another body in its wide receiver room as the team continues to deal with injuries. It’s worth noting that Vrabel is an alumnus of Ohio State, Harrison’s alma mater, and began his coaching career on the Buckeyes’ staff.

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