The Arizona Cardinals are trading Marvin Harrison Jr... we just don't exactly know where or for what yet. Basically, the deal is done; the Cardinals just have to find:
1. A team that wants to trade for him
2. That same team is willing to give the Cardinals something for him
But in all seriousness, this is a good decision by the Cardinals to move on from their Harrison draft mistake sooner rather than later. Regardless of what particular details of the trade look like, it was in the best interest of this rebuild going forward.
Harrison himself isn't a character problem by any means, but he was becoming a problem for the Cardinals due to the media attention. Everything was under a microscope when it came to his touches, routes, dropped passes, missed blocks -- you name it.
Cardinals are better off without the Marvin Harrison Jr. distraction
Fortunately, Arizona's rebuild, and offense in particular, is still in a great position going forward after moving on from Harrison.
That's largely thanks to having the best tight end in the league, Trey McBride, and a running back in Jeremiyah Love who should also be in the conversation for best at his position sooner rather than later.
However, the most underrated aspect of this Cardinals offense is their deep receiving group.
That depth was apparent throughout preseason and training camp, ultimately leading to their unconventional decision to keep seven wide receivers on their 53-man roster. Now that Harrison is out of the picture, look for these other receivers to step up in his absence.
Kendrick Bourne should now increase his production
Admittedly, it's not like Harrison had a huge target share. He failed to establish a connection or even trust with quarterback Jacoby Brissett, which is largely why the Cardinals are in this situation, trading a former top five draft pick in the first place.
Through four games, Harrison totaled an underwhelming 85 receiving yards, 1 touchdown, and 5 receptions on just 12 targets. I'm not sure how he's supposed to produce when the ball isn't even heading his direction, but that's a problem for another team to worry about: how to best unlock Harrison's talent.
For Arizona, this could easily be an addition-by-subtraction move. Not that Harrison performed that poorly, but because it was a cloud of negativity hanging over Brissett and head coach Mike LaFleur. At times it felt as though they had to force-feed the ball to Harrison or generate artificial touches just to change the narrative.
It's no longer a problem or even a talking point that Michael Wilson is emerging as the true WR1 in this offense. If anything, it makes that extension look even better than it already has since he should play an even bigger role going forward.
But perhaps the most underrated offseason decision that will come to light in the wake of this Harrison trade is the addition of Kendrick Bourne.
The new Cardinals wide receiver has just 12 receptions for 108 yards up until this point. He was one of the standout performers throughout the offseason and should benefit from having a more established place in this offensive hierarchy.
Look for Bourne to increase his production going forward.
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