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Skull Session: T.J. Houshmandzadeh Tells Marvin Harrison Jr. to “Go All Out” Amid Troubles with the Cardinals
“GO ALL OUT.” Before the 2024 NFL draft, professional scouts considered Marvin Harrison Jr. one of the most polished prospects ever before the Arizona Cardinals selected him with the No. 4 overall pick.
After a solid rookie season and an injury-riddled sophomore campaign, Harrison has just one catch on four targets through two games. The shocking lack of production has drawn harsh criticism of the former Ohio State star, who won the Biletnikoff Award as a unanimous All-American in 2023. Several videos have also shown Harrison’s lack of effort as a run blocker and route runner.
When asked Monday about Harrison’s involvement in the offense, Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur said, in short,
there’s only so much ball to go around.
“Everyone’s kind of got their role,” he said, naming All-Pro tight end Trey McBride and the run game as focal points.
This week, former NFL wide receiver and current Fox Sports analyst T.J. Houshmandzadeh reacted to LaFleur’s comments and offered Harrison some advice: “Go all out.”
“No. 1, LaFleur ain’t f— with Marvin Harrison,” Houshmandzadeh said. “When you say, ‘Oh, we also have Trey McBride, who’s one of the best underneath guys, and there’s only 60-65 plays a game, and you got to run the ball,’ when you value somebody, those words don’t even come out of your mouth. That right there tells me he does not value Marvin Harrison as a football player.
“Marvin Harrison knows that, and this is why we see that the routes are half-speed. His running style ain’t no different. He's not trying because he feels like, ‘I’m not getting the ball anyway.’ I don’t know how often he talks to (Marvin Harrison Sr.) about this, but this is where he has to understand this is making him look bad, because everybody else is watching this.”
Houshmandzadeh then argued that Harrison’s place in Arizona’s offensive hierarchy could make his situation even more difficult.
“Your time with the Cardinals is done. They done paid Trey McBride, they done paid Michael Wilson. You are now the third option, if that," he said. "You’re the fourth option in the offense because it’s Trey McBride, it’s Mike Wilson, then it’s Jeremiyah Love, then you. You’re getting the crumbs. When we eat, you're the runt of the litter. You get what we leave, the leftovers.
“My advice to Marvin Harrison would be this: Go all out. Show everybody that this s— really matters to you. That you can create separation, that you can get off. Even if you don’t get the ball, they gon see you creating separation; they being the other teams.
“Your time in Arizona, from that quote, it’s over, it’s done. When he was at Ohio State, there were actual people that thought he was the best receiver in football, and when I say football, literally people were saying Marvin Harrison Jr. is the best receiver in football and they weren’t just talking college. And so there’s still some people out there that believe, if they get him in their system, he’ll be alright, and I actually do believe if he got into a different system, he’d be fine.
“He’s scarred in Arizona. And it ain’t like his rookie year he was terrible. He had a solid rookie season. Whatever has happened from that point until now, mentally it’s a wrap in Arizona. This dude is literally jogging routes like they run plays. They’re pass plays, and he’s making them look like runs. So that tells me he’s checked out, so my advice to him would be: go all out these next however many games you’re in Arizona, and see if you can get your agent to force an issue to get you up out of there, because if he stays in Arizona, his career may be over.
“It’s hard, man, to run these routes full speed when you really know I have no chance of getting the ball. And his daddy never did this s—, but this is when frustration sets in. … I feel bad for him because he can actually play, but in that system, they don’t value you; you don’t have a quarterback, but you better start busting your ass or you gon be out the league.”
I still believe in Harrison.
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continued
Just sayin': Two more years is too long to languish in Arizona. He needs to be traded.
Re: Harrison signed a fully guaranteed deal worth $35,374,742 that includes a $22,547,084 signing bonus. The base salaries are the league minimum of $795,000 in 2024; $960,000 in 2025; $1.075 million in 2026 and $1.19 million in 2027.
AI Overview: Marvin Harrison Jr. is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent in 2028 after his standard four-year rookie contract ends, though the Arizona Cardinals can extend his contract through 2028 by exercising a fifth-year team option.
Contract Timeline
- 2024–2027: Covered under his initial 4-year rookie deal.
- Spring 2027: Deadline for the Cardinals to decide on the fifth-year option.
- 2028 Free Agency: Becomes a free agent if the option is declined.
- 2029 Free Agency: Becomes a free agent if the fifth-year option is exercised.
Marvin Harrison Jr.’s fifth-year option for the 2028 NFL season ranges between $17.2 million and $30.9 million.
The exact value of a first-round pick's fifth-year option is determined by performance tiers structured in the collective bargaining agreement (CBA). Based on salary cap calculations and projections tracked by Over the Cap, his option breaks down into four tiers:
| Basic (Default baseline for the No. 4 pick) |
$17,202,000 |
| Playtime (Achieved by hitting snap-count milestones) |
$18,950,000 |
| 1 Pro Bowl (Selected to one Pro Bowl on the original ballot) |
$26,544,000 |
| Multiple Pro Bowls (Selected to 2+ Pro Bowls on the original ballot) |
$30,914,000 |
The decision to exercise this option must be made by the Arizona Cardinals (or whichever team holds his contract) following his third season.