The Arizona Cardinals fall to 1-4 after a Week 5 loss at home to the Detroit Lions. This was expected to be a shootout, but unfortunately that only applied to the road team. By halftime, this one already felt over, with Arizona falling behind 24-7. The final was 45-21.
However, the blowout loss wasn't even the headliner news for the Cardinals today. Prior to the start of the game, ESPN's Adam Schefter and NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported that Cardinals wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. is being traded to the Houston Texans.
Arizona receives a 2027 second- and sixth-round draft pick, sending Harrison and a seventh-round selection to Houston in exchange.
This was good value for the Cardinals to come away with a second-round selection considering how much Harrison has underwhelmed through his first two seasons in Arizona. And unfortunately, Sunday's bad loss to the Lions revealed serious flaws in the rest of this Cardinals roster, particularly on the defensive end.
Cardinals should use Texans' second-round pick on defense
This is not only the fourth consecutive loss for the Cardinals, but also the fourth straight game in which they've surrendered 30-plus points. They almost kept that streak alive at halftime alone.
That should be a concerning sign for the job security of defensive coordinator Nick Rallis. But it's also not entirely on Rallis, as he's also been dealt a difficult hand when trying to make the most of this roster.
Even with Harrison out of the picture, Arizona has plenty of pass-catching and playmaking options. It's not like he was producing much through the first four games, anyway. This second-round pick gives the Cardinals more flexibility when it comes to finding that roster balance.
The Texans are better than their 1-4 record suggests, though their slow start to the season will also help improve that draft position for Arizona. Quarterback remains the top priority to unlock this offense and maximize the Cardinals' offensive weapons. But with that second-round pick from the Texans, the Cardinals should seriously consider using it to clean this defense up.
They've now surrendered a total of 162 points through five weeks. That's not a winning formula even in the best-case scenario where the Cardinals land their quarterback of the future in the first round.
Securing an additional second-round pick is a step in the right direction. And the fact that all the Cardinals had to include was essentially an underperforming Harrison makes this a win.
Now they can officially move on from their failed Harrison experiment, finding a better roster balance going forward in this rebuild.
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