The circumstances surrounding the Marvin Harrison Jr. trade from the Arizona Cardinals to the Houston Texans certainly were unusual. It all started Saturday morning with various reports that the third-year receiver would be traded, but with no specifics about his destination.
The Texans were thought to be the likely landing spot, but it wasn't until DeMeco Ryans announced it at the coach's postgame press conference following Sunday's win over the Tennessee Titans that the trade became official.
On Wednesday, Texans general manager Nick Caserio clarified how the deal went down between himself and the Cardinals' Monti Ossenfort, who worked with Caserio in New England and made a huge trade with the Texans during the 2023 NFL draft that landed Will Anderson Jr. in Houston. Speaking with Seth Payne and Sean Pendergast on Houston's 97.5 The Fan, Caserio, who also kept the door open on midseason contract negotiations with quarterback C.J. Stroud, said he and Ossenfort agreed to the deal Friday night, but the Cardinals wanted to wait to make it official, and that the trade was never on hold awaiting the outcome of the Texans' game against the Titans.
Caserio said he initiated the trade conversations at the beginning of October, unaware if the Cardinals would be willing to part with their former No. 4 overall draft pick, and then the deal came together last week.
"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. "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."
The Texans ended up sending a second- and seventh-round pick in the 2027 draft in exchange for Harrison and a sixth-rounder next year. If the deal was agreed upon Friday, that means Caserio agreed to give up draft capital even though his team was 0-4 with a chance of losing to the Titans and falling to 0-5. The lead executive says he wouldn't have backed out of the trade had disaster struck in Nashville.
"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."
Harrison had his first practice with the Texans on Wednesday, but there's no timetable for when he'll be expected to contribute on the field.
"Our expectations are: Come in, have the right mindset, go out there, get yourself acclimated to the system, whenever you're ready to play, you'll play," Caserio said. "We're not going to force-feed anything. We're not going to say this guy's got to play X number of plays and just put him out there. When he's ready to play, he'll play."
In the 45-minute interview, Caserio also didn't close the door on continuing contract discussions with Stroud and the quarterback's agent David Mulugheta. Stroud still has two years left on his current contract, including the fifth-year option the team picked up in May. The team and Stroud had talks in the offseason about a new contract, but couldn't come to an agreement. When a deal wasn't reached before the season started, it was assumed those talks would be on hold until next offseason, and that still may be true, but Caserio says he's always willing to talk.
Despite the team's 1-4 start, Stroud has played well, which will earn him an extremely lucrative deal if he keeps it up. The 10 highest annual salaries among quarterbacks in the league are all at least $53 million a year with 13 quarterbacks having at least $100 million guaranteed in their contract.
"We always have an open-door policy so if there's a conversation to be had, great," Caserio said of possible midseason negotiations. "If we want to continue (talks), no problem. If not, it's something that we'll address or handle in the offseason. I think we're pretty flexible and adaptable around here, so you don't want to close the door on anything. On the other side of it, whatever their thought and however they want to handle it, we're certainly respectful of that. Kind of take it case by case, but look, the reality is, we had good discussions during the offseason, weren't able to reach an agreement and I think everybody felt like it was handled fairly well. I've got respect for him and David and kind of the way they go about business and I think it was reciprocal, so we just try to keep the dialogue moving, keep it open and when it's appropriate to revisit, then you revisit."
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There’s more to Houston with the Chronicle. Subscribe today for just 25¢.This article originally published at Texans' Nick Caserio explains how Marvin Harrison Jr. trade went down, talks C.J. Stroud extension.