The New York Giants, sitting alone in 1st place in the NFC East Division 1 month into the season, find themselves at a crossroads.
The Giants are, no doubt, 1 of the NFL’s most improved teams under new head coach John Harbaugh. They’re also, no doubt, headed into some predictably rough waters after their best offensive player, quarterback Jaxson Dart, and their best defensive player, edge rusher Brian Burns, suffered season-ending knee injuries in consecutive weeks.
Pro Football Focus NFL reporter Bradley Locker thinks the solution could be a trade for a former 1st-round pick in embattled Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr.
“The fourth overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, Harrison was touted as a borderline generational receiver prospect,” Locker wrote on October 7. “However, his career has severely underwhelmed thus far. Harrison’s PFF receiving grade has dipped in each of his first three seasons, including plummeting to a 51.9 mark in 2026 alongside a 16.7% drop rate. A change of scenery seems likely for the 24-year-old Harrison, and teams around the league would figure to have immense interest. The Giants could seek a more legitimate running mate for Malik Nabers.”
Harrison Jr. Entered NFL With Massive Fanfare
Few wide receiver prospects have entered the NFL with as much fanfare as the 6-foot-3, 205-pound Harrison Jr., the son of Pro Football Hall of Fame wide receiver Marvin Harrison.
Selected No. 4 overall by the Cardinals in the 2024 NFL Draft out of Ohio State, the red flags started to pop up during his rookie season. On the surface, he had a respectable season with 62 receptions for 885 yards and 8 touchdowns — until you also consider he did so with an incredible 116 targets.
While the Cardinals went 8-9 in 2024, they dropped to 3-14 in 2025. Harrison finished with 41 receptions for 608 yards and 4 touchdowns in 12 games and battled a whole smorgasbord of injuries — a concussion in Week 6, an appendectomy kept him out 2 games, a heel injury in Week 13, and a foot injury in Week 17 before the Cardinals finally placed him on season-ending injured reserve.
Struggles Have Continued Into 2026 Regular Season
Through 4 games in 2026, Harrison Jr. has shown his past struggles weren’t a mirage.
Combined with a preseason in which it seemed like a new viral clip of Harrison Jr. dropping a pass at practice went viral every week, it’s been a rough stretch for a player NFL Draft analyst Lance Zierlein called a “pedigree prospect and a Day 1 starter with high-end production expected” in his pre-draft evaluation.
“It’s the social media era,” Harrison told AzCardinals.com’s Darren Urban on September 23. “You see everything. I’m not going to sit here and say I don’t see nothing. You get told to block out the noise and not pay attention to it. That’s part of it. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions. I’m just going to continue to worry about my team, my process.”
Giants Trade Pitch Lands Embattled Former 1st Round Pick