The Arizona Cardinals officially moved on from Marvin Harrison Jr. on Monday, sending the 2024 No. 4 overall pick and a 2027 sixth-round pick to the Houston Texans for 2027 second- and seventh-round selections. General manager Monti Ossenfort said “decisions like this are never easy,” but the trade had been building for two weeks.
So, will the Cardinals add a receiver to replace him? Not right away, at least based on how they’ve played without him. Harrison was inactive for Sunday’s 45-21 loss to Detroit, and Arizona already looked like a team that had moved on. He had five catches for 85 yards and a touchdown through four games.
Who steps up for the Cardinals now?
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Trey McBride is the obvious answer, even if he isn’t a receiver. The tight end played 66 of 73 offensive snaps against the Lions and led the offense with a 76.0 receiving grade, according to PFF. The passing game already runs through him.
Michael Wilson is the top wideout. He played 61 snaps on Sunday, the most of any receiver, and has been Jacoby Brissett’s most reliable outside target. Jalen Brooks (39 snaps) and Kendrick Bourne (36) handled most of the remaining work, while Reggie Virgil earned a 73.7 grade on just 13 snaps. That’s too small a sample to read much into, but it’s enough to justify a longer look.
Head coach Mike LaFleur’s offense has also leaned on multiple tight ends, with Elijah Higgins and Teagan Quitoriano both playing at least 30 snaps against Detroit.
Will the Cardinals trade for a receiver?
A trade looks unlikely for a 1-4 team. Arizona just turned a receiver that one AFC executive called a “third receiver with upside” into a second-round pick, and spending draft capital to replace him in the same month would undercut the point of the deal. The likelier path is giving Wilson a bigger role and finding out what Brooks and Virgil can do with real snaps.
A veteran free agent is the middle ground if the offense stalls. That would be about filling snaps rather than replacing a WR1.
The bigger question is what this offense looks like in a month. The Cardinals visit the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, and that game will be the first real test of a passing attack built around McBride and Wilson. If it sputters, the pressure to add a receiver will grow. If it holds up, Arizona may decide the answer was already on the roster.
