The Raiders know they need a no. 1 wide receiver, but it doesn’t sound like they ever considered Marvin Harrison Jr. a strong candidate to fill that need.
According to Sports Illustrated insider Hondo Carpenter on Thursday, the Raiders were not interested in Harrison “at all” when they learned the Cardinals’ asking price for the former first-round pick.
Carpenter added that most teams around the league shared a similar stance on Harrison and the Texans were essentially bidding against themselves for his services.
Why weren’t teams more interested in Harrison?
The easy answer to that question is that Harrison hasn’t looked like a good receiver in a long time.
Even in his Texans debut against the Jaguars, Harrison’s routes looked roughly the same as what they did in Arizona. In 34 pass plays, Harrison tallied 3 receptions for 31 yards against the Jaguars on Sunday.
The thought in Houston was that playing with his college quarterback again might jumpstart his career, but Harrison was largely running the same lethargic routes that showed up on film in Arizona.
People closest to Harrison, like former Vikings wide receiver Cris Carter, have offered vague excuses for Harrison from his time with the Cardinals, but there is obviously something off with him that no one understands or wants to say on the record.
Maybe it’s just that Harrison doesn’t translate to the NFL as well as his father.
Marvin Harrison Sr. also had the luxury of playing with Peyton Manning, which sparked the careers of more than a few wide receivers over the years.
But a comment in Carpenter’s Thursday column seemed to hint at something with Harrison. Even though everyone has defended Harrison’s character, it’s hard to read the statement (below) and not have questions.
“Harrison Jr. entered the league and nearly instantly had off-field business issues,” Carpenter wrote in his column this week. “On top of that, he had multiple QBs and coaches over his less than two and a half years in the NFL, with low production, questionable effort, and football issues. In fairness to the young man, none of the issues around him were off-field or character issues.”
What did the Raiders actually offer for Harrison?
Considering everyone seems to agree the Raiders reached out to the Cardinals, they must have had some level of interest.
If a second-round pick wasn’t even close to what John Spytek and company were willing to give up for Harrison, it’s probably a safe assumption they valued him around a day 3 draft pick.
Aside from the draft capital, Harrison went to Houston with a $5.8 million cap hit next year and will be a free agent after the 2027 season.
After giving up a second-round pick for Harrison, it’s hard to imagine the Texans won’t feel obligated to utilize the fifth-year option on Harrison’s rookie deal and that number projects to be more than $17 million in 2028.
That’s a rabbit hole it sounds like the Raiders weren’t interested in pursuing and it’ll pay off if they can walk away from the upcoming draft with a certain Indiana wide receiver projected by many to be the no. 2 wide receiver in the class.
x: @raidersbeat
Please let’s move on? He already in another stage, with another team. I wish him success.