Winners and losers as Cardinals trade Marvin Harrison Jr. to Texans: ‘I was praying something happened’

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — In the New York Jets’ postgame locker room on Sunday afternoon, Garrett Wilson lit up.

The former Ohio State receiver who became a top-10 pick in the NFL Draft was hearing the latest news of another former Ohio State receiver who became a top-10 pick in the draft.

And Wilson, who overlapped with Harrison for one season in Columbus, was thrilled to hear the Arizona Cardinals were trading Harrison to the Houston Texans.

“I don’t even know if I’m allowed to say [but] I was praying something happened with him,” Wilson told Yahoo Sports after the Jets beat the Browns. “The fact he did, and it’s a spot like Houston? Man, I’m happy for him.”

Who else is happy for the highly-touted prospect that didn’t take off in two-plus Arizona seasons? And who might be disappointed that the Cardinals are dealing Harrison and a 2027 seventh-round pick in exchange for 2027 second- and sixth-round picks?

Based on conversations with players and execs around the league, here are Yahoo Sports’ winners and losers of the trade:

Cardinals’ arsenal to rebuild: It was hardly a secret across the league that the Cardinals wanted a second-round draft pick and change in exchange for their physically gifted wideout. But multiple teams I spoke with in recent weeks were not convinced Harrison warranted that cost. One NFC talent evaluator told me last week they thought there was “zero chance” Harrison was worth a second- or third-round pick. A high-ranking AFC executive told me that for a Day 3 pick — that is, fourth round or later — the value would be worth pursuing Harrison, but no higher. 

The Cardinals capitalized on a desperate Texans team that had reason to believe in Harrison more than 31 counterparts. And thus two seasons and four games after selecting Harrison fourth overall, the Cardinals not only get a second-round pick but they get a second-round pick in the talent-rich 2027 draft even amid trends to trade 2028 seconds (hi, Baltimore Ravens for Cam Jurgens and New England Patriots for A.J. Brown) to save up for the expected treasure trove in April.

C.J. Stroud: With Stroud at Ohio State’s starting quarterback in 2022, Harrison posted a whopping 1,263 yards and 14 touchdowns in 13 games. The duo connected on three touchdowns in the Rose Bowl alone that season. Teammates from their time speak to the on-field chemistry quarterback and receiver built quickly, the work ethic that had them in the building early and the cerebral nature that helped them connect. 

Stroud has played better this season than his team’s 1-4 record suggests, completing 64.3% of his passes for 1,402 yards, six touchdowns and no interceptions in five games. He’s rushed for another 71 yards and a score. But the Texans’ receiving corps has proven incredibly shallow. Tank Dell has yet to return from injured reserve after knee surgery following a December dislocation of his kneecap and multiple torn ligaments. Jayden Higgins suffered a season-ending ACL tear during training camp. Nico Collins missed Weeks 2 and 3 with a hamstring strain suffered in practice. What can Harrison add? “They don’t really miss now together,” Wilson said. “C.J. don’t miss much anyway, but when he got a guy like that, that got a catch radius like that, runs good routes? It’s going to be fun to watch.”

Marvin Harrison Jr. and C.J. Stroud had a strong connection during their days together at Ohio State. (Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images)

Marvin Harrison Jr.’s career: This trade is likely only a reality because of how much Harrison struggled in Arizona. A combination of 2025 health setbacks (concussion, appendicitis, two heel injuries) and target plummet this year meant he finishes his Cardinals tenure with 108 catches for 1,578 yards and 13 touchdowns in 33 games (30 starts). This season, Harrison had just 13 targets across four games; he caught five for 85 yards and a score. The high-ranking AFC executive believed Houston could ignite something in Harrison for reasons beyond the college reunion: the benefit of the excitement tends to follow a new trade acquisition, as opposed to the disappointment surrounding a high-draft pick that doesn’t quickly materialize. Another AFC executive believed that even Harrison’s up-and-down tenure in Arizona showed his speed, quickness and agility at the pro level. Turn those flashes into marks of consistency, and Texans fans have reason to be excited.

“I know the belief system that he’s going to have around him in the Texans,” Wilson said. “I know what he can do. So for me, it’s just a ticking-time bomb with him. I can’t wait to watch him erupt. He’s got all the ability in the world and now he’s playing with someone that he’s been with before. They got great chemistry. And I saw it from Day 1 at O State. I can’t wait to watch. You got me excited.”

The chance the Texans defy history again: Since 1979, only seven times in NFL history has a team started 0-3 and advanced to the playoffs, per NBC Sports. The Texans claim two of those seven, most recently rebounding last year from 0-3 to 12-5. The Texans proved they belonged in the playoffs when they beat the Steelers in Pittsburgh, 30-6, in the wild-card round. The Patriots then outlasted the Texans 28-16 in the divisional round. Could the Texans rebound from 0-4 to make the playoffs? Only one team, the 1992 Chargers, have accomplished that feat. With 17 chances instead of 16, the Texans, now 1-4, have one more chance to showcase their upgraded roster than that Chargers team. Will it be enough?  

The cost of desperation: The Texans needed to do something. Head coach DeMeco Ryans already stripped defensive coordinator Matt Burke of play-calling this past week. Pair that with an 0-4 start and a need to make a contract decision on Stroud soon, and Houston let Arizona squeeze more out of the deal than less-frenzied franchises would have copped. If the Texans advance deep into the playoffs, perhaps this pays off. But it’s worth remembering that the Texans’ defense has still regressed meaningfully from last year. Holding the winless Titans to 3 points in Sunday’s win is better than a loss, but the Titans have been held to 10 or fewer points in three of five games this year so it’s not sufficient to prove the group is settling. What will it take for Harrison, whose fifth-year option decision looms in May, to justify the sacrifice of a more cost-controlled 2027 second-round pick in a talent-rich draft? If Harrison approaches his draft billing, it will be worth it. But two-plus seasons and several injuries in, as he scrambles to pick up a new offense midseason, how likely is that?

The ‘film means everything’ crowd: It’s disingenuous to criticize Harrison’s college career and the film that propelled him to the fourth overall pick. Harrison’s 2,613 yards and 31 touchdowns, including two seasons in which he surpassed 1,200 yards and 14 touchdowns. He showed he could thrive with Stroud, and he showed he could thrive with quarterback Kyle McCord. So the Cardinals were comfortable spending big on him despite Harrison’s decision to not participate in scouting combine drills. Two-and-a-half years later, some talent evaluators wonder how significant that decision was. While an AFC executive argued for the importance of production on the field rather than in a vacuum, test-like combine settings, talent evaluators from two NFC teams wondered if Harrison was “overdrafted” relative to his career thus far in part because of missing information about his physical traits compared to historical precedent. 

“The perception was that he was fast and strong and explosive and all that, but now you question whether the testing [would have] come back a little bit underwhelming,” one NFC evaluator told Yahoo Sports, “and then if it would have come back underwhelming, he wouldn’t have been [drafted] as high.”

NFC teams outside the NFC West: The NFC West sent three teams to the playoffs last season: the Seattle Seahawks, Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers. All three won at least one playoff game, the NFC championship staged between the Rams and Seahawks before Seattle beat the Patriots for the Lombardi Trophy. The Rams entered this season with overwhelming Super Bowl odds, and the Niners and Seahawks started hotter than their Los Angeles foe through four weeks. The Cardinals were already going to be the weak link in the division, but with Harrison, the chance of the any-given-Sunday in-division upset drops further. And the chance of the NFC West’s other three teams taking home two wins a pop vs. the Cardinals, helping them win not only a division berth but one to two wild-card berths, increases.

Cardinals’ current offensive players: Few expected Arizona to win many games this season amid a rebuild, a hole in the quarterback room and what seemed to be an unforgiving schedule this year. With the Cardinals falling to 1-4 after this Sunday, that expectation might not change. But the offense’s chance to function in head coach Mike LaFleur’s first season does dip with the loss of Harrison. Even as Harrison commanded a lesser target share this season, the defensive attention he directed away from teammates was valuable. Harrison was on the field on 74% of offensive snaps through the Cardinals’ first four games. That helped players like Michael Wilson and Trey McBride find creases in defenses, and it helped teammates like Jeremiyah Love and Tyler Allgeier face less-stacked boxes. By 2027 and afterward, perhaps the draft capital, a longer-term quarterback solution than Jacoby Brissett and more time in LaFleur’s system will pay off. But 2026 looks bleaker for Arizona than it did last week.