On Sunday, Arizona’s only No. 18 was in the stands; receiver Marvin Harrison didn’t play – and probably wasn’t even in the building – a day after the mysterious half a report has been published from Adam Schefter and Ian Rapoport of the ESPNFL that Harrison would be traded to a team to be named later.
It is possible that they both knew the destination and agreed not to report it; As a source explained to PFT, some of the #insiders (and perhaps Schefter and/or Rapoport) knew that Harrison had hired agents last month for the first time in his career, but kept this news under wraps as long as possible in order to ensure that the effort to trade Harrison would occur without widespread sentiment of a potential Arizona fire sale emerging and, in turn, complicating the Cardinals’ efforts to obtain value for Harrison and Harrison’s efforts to get out of Arizona.
Fast forward to one of the most bizarre trade reports in years, if ever, and the question is whether the two teams were still haggling Saturday or if the deal was in place. What if the door was open to the involvement of another team (or several).
While the facts are very difficult to uncover completely (the simple fact that Cardinals general manager Monti Ossenfort and Texans general manager Nick Caserio spent 14 years together, from 2006 to 2019, working for Lord of Secrecy Bill Belichick is the obvious reason), it appears that a deal was fully done before Sunday and that both teams wanted to delay the announcement until after they played their games on Sunday.
The Texans have not fully cooperated in this regard. At the end of his postgame press conference, Texans coach DeMeco Ryans (who has never been a member of the Belichick hive) let it slip after being repeatedly questioned about Harrison.
The Cardinals game, which started at 4:25 p.m. ET, was not over. It hadn’t even started.
So why not announce it on Saturday? As far as we can tell, the goal was to not create a distraction before Sunday’s game — more for the Texans than the Cardinals, especially since the Cardinals were rumored to be trading Harrison out of town.
If the deal wasn’t already done, there was no reason for the Cardinals not to wait and see if another team that hadn’t played yet (up to and including Monday night’s game between the Bills and Rams) would develop a sudden need for Harrison due to injury and make a better offer for the fourth overall pick in the 2026 draft. But the Cardinals didn’t wait until the dust had completely settled by the week 5. Which alone allows us to conclude that the agreement was concluded before Sunday.
Then there’s the reality: Harrison still needs a physical. While it’s usually a technicality, it was a technicality that kept Maxx Crosby in Las Vegas after the deal that would have sent him to Baltimore was announced. Given that Harrison has played this season, there is no particular reason to think he will fail the Texans’ physical test. Still, it’s not completely over until the doctor(s) gives official approval.
As for the haggling, it apparently took place before Sunday’s games even started. But the fact that the information was partially reported only served to sow confusion among those consuming the information, leading to inevitable suspicions that someone was trying to make a little money on the prediction markets.
Gn sports
