Texans GM Explains Marvin Harrison Jr. Trade Saga

Before the Texans acquired Marvin Harrison Jr. from the Cardinals, the organization had to keep quiet about their pending addition.

In a bizarre weekend saga, it was first reported that the wide receiver was about to be traded to an undisclosed team. While the Texans emerged as the suitor most commonly connected to the former fourth-overall pick, it took 24 hours for Houston to definitively announce that they were acquiring Harrison in a trade.

In an interview on 95.7 The Fan, Texans GM Nick Caserio revealed that it was Cardinals GM Monti Ossenfort who wanted to wait until the conclusion of Sunday’s games to reveal Harrison’s destination.

“The deal was basically done Friday night, we kind of had an agreement in place. I gave him my word, he gave me his word, that’s how you do business,” Caserio said (h/t Matt Young of the Houston Chronicle). “That’s how he and I do business, but he wanted to handle it a certain way as it pertains to the communication and some of the other things, so we certainly didn’t have a problem with that at all.”

There was some speculation that the Texans wanted to wait to see the result of Week 5 before finalizing a trade. Caserio said that wasn’t the case, as the organization would have acquired Harrison regardless of whether they were 1-4 or 0-5.

“We had agreed to the parameters, there were a few things that we had to finalize and work out, so what happened in the game had absolutely zero bearing on whether or not we were going to consummate the transaction,” Caserio said. “We’re not going to agree to something and see what happens in the game and then back out of it. We’re not gonna do that. I don’t operate that way and we’re not going to operate that way.”

Caserio ultimately believed “there was a lot more made of this than there really was.” The GM ended up sending Arizona a 2027 second- and seventh-round pick for Harrison and a 2027 sixth-round pick. Caserio also revealed that it was the Texans who first approached the Cardinals about the trade that reunited Harrison with his college QB, C.J. Stroud.