The story of the weekend continues to be unwritten. But the ending is partially known.
The Cardinals will undoubtedly be trading receiver Marvin Harrison Jr.
As one source with knowledge of the dynamics puts it, the situation has moved past the point of no return. He’s not playing today, and he wasn’t present for Saturday night’s meetings before the Week 5 contest against the Lions.
Harrison has been told he’s being traded, we’re told. The Cardinals have opted to wait in order to squeeze a little more out of the Texans, or in the hopes some other team will develop an urgency to make a deal, based on a possible injury.
The question becomes whether the Cardinals will finalize things after today’s game, or whether they’ll wait to see whether a receiver from the Bills or Rams is injured on Monday night.
At this point, there’s no reason not to wait until Tuesday morning.
Regardless, it will be impossible for the Cardinals to turn back now and keep Harrison. Unless the Cardinals plan to deactivate him one week at a time, until the trade deadline arrives.
Could the oft-dysfunctional Cardinals decide to do the dysfunctional thing and change their minds about trading him altogether? In theory, yes. In practice, they’d be inviting a potentially ugly reaction from Harrison.
Or from his father, Hall of Fame receiver Marvin Harrison Sr.