Marvin Harrison Jr., McKinstry to Cardinals in Todd McShay 2024 NFL Mock Draft

As the dust continues to settle on the 2023 NFL draft, attention has already turned to what looks like an exciting class next year.

In an early 2024 mock draft, ESPN's Todd McShay is projecting the Arizona Cardinals to land Ohio State wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. and Alabama cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry in the top five.

"Harrison is going to be among the elite grades at the position, perhaps even the highest since A.J. Green (97) in 2011," McShay wrote of the Ohio State star. "He has great size at 6'4", 205-pounds and fantastic hands, catching 77 passes for 1,263 yards and 14 touchdowns last season. With [DeAndre] Hopkins only under contract through 2024 and Marquise Brown coming off the books after this coming season, the receiver room could use a difference-maker."

McShay has the Cardinals in the top two spots but the team trading the No. 1 overall pick to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and keeping Kyler Murray as their quarterback.

The Cardinals would acquire the No. 5 pick to take McKinstry in this scenario.

McShay noted he projected the trade involving the top pick because he felt Murray's contract would make it "extremely difficult to move on from after this coming season."

Even though the Cardinals would have to eat a lot of money to move on from Murray, it's not impossible given their situation. They would take on a $46.2 million dead cap charge but save $5.6 million against the salary cap if he's traded before June 1, 2024.

If Murray were to be traded after June 1, 2024, the Cardinals would save $38.85 million against the cap and take a $13 million dead cap charge.

Teams have been more willing in recent years to take on a significant dead cap hit to move on from players who don't fit into their future plans. The four largest dead cap hits in NFL history are from quarterback trades made in the past two years (Matt Ryan, Aaron Rodgers, Carson Wentz and Russell Wilson).

The Atlanta Falcons and Green Bay Packers both took dead-cap hits over $40 million by trading Ryan and Rodgers.

Murray's future is up in the air for several reasons. It's unclear when he's going to play this season after tearing his ACL in a Dec. 12 game against the New England Patriots.

Cardinals owner Michael Bidwell said in February that Murray could return before midseason, but he didn't want to put a specific date on it.

Another reason this could be Murray's final season in Arizona is the regime that signed him to a five-year, $230.5 million extension last offseason is no longer with the organization. General manager Steve Keim and head coach Kliff Kingsbury have been replaced by Monti Ossenfort and Jonathan Gannon, respectively.

If the Cardinals are as bad as most analysts project them to be this season, Keim and Gannon may look for a fresh start with a quarterback of their choosing at No. 1 overall.

This does make their draft-day trade with the Houston Texans, which included their first-round pick in 2024, even more fascinating. The Texans might take a few steps forward with C.J. Stroud and Will Anderson Jr. in 2023, but they still appear to be a long way away from contending.

It wouldn't be a total surprise if Houston is bad enough to have the second-worst record in the NFL.

The Cardinals might end up with the top two picks, which could allow them to take either USC's Caleb Williams, UNC's Drake Maye or whichever quarterback they like at No. 1 and shop the No. 2 pick.

If they want to give a rookie quarterback a playmaker to throw to, Harrison certainly seems like the safest bet to be the first receiver off the board. He had 1,263 yards and 14 touchdowns in 13 games for the Buckeyes in 2022.

But with Gannon having a defensive background, he might look to find a franchise cornerstone in the secondary with the additional first-round pick. McKinstry had 15 pass breakups for the Crimson Tide last season.