The Ravens Jacoby Brissett trade is now official. Baltimore announced Friday that it has acquired the veteran quarterback from the Arizona Cardinals, less than 24 hours after a 33-10 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars exposed just how thin the Ravens’ quarterback room has become.
Brissett is expected to take over as Baltimore’s starting quarterback when the Ravens host the Los Angeles Chargers on Monday Night Football on November 16. The move gives the 4-5 Ravens an experienced starter for the stretch run — and a clear signal, days before Tuesday’s trade deadline, that general manager Eric DeCosta is not giving up on the season.
Ravens Jacoby Brissett trade terms and salary details
The trade, first reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter and NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport earlier in the week, was completed Friday morning after the teams waited until after Thursday night’s game to finalize it.
Baltimore receives quarterback Jacoby Brissett and a 2027 fifth-round draft pick. Arizona receives a 2027 fourth-round pick and a 2028 seventh-round pick. In effect, the Ravens moved down one round in the 2027 draft and added a 2028 seventh-rounder to land their new starting quarterback.
Arizona also helped make the money work. Before the deal was completed, the Cardinals converted $2.7 million of Brissett’s remaining $5.4 million base salary into a signing bonus, according to ESPN’s Field Yates. That cut Baltimore’s remaining obligation to about $2.43 million, with Brissett able to earn more through incentives.
Brissett’s exit from Arizona had been building all week. After he was benched for Gardner Minshew II, Brissett reportedly asked for a trade, and Cardinals coach Mike LaFleur named Minshew the starter on Monday, with rookie Carson Beck as the backup.
Why Baltimore needed a quarterback
The Ravens’ quarterback situation changed in a single afternoon. In Sunday’s 36-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills, Lamar Jackson suffered a right thumb injury that required surgery, and backup Tyler Huntley suffered a turf toe injury that is expected to sideline him for the rest of the season.
Jackson has been placed on injured reserve and must miss at least four games. With both of their experienced quarterbacks out, the Ravens turned to undrafted rookie Joe Fagnano for Thursday night’s start against Jacksonville. Fagnano completed 10 of 18 passes for 60 yards with two interceptions and a 22.7 passer rating in the 33-10 defeat.
Baltimore has since added depth behind Brissett, signing Kedon Slovis from Green Bay’s practice squad and adding Austin Reed. But Brissett is the answer the Ravens were looking for: a veteran who can run the offense while Jackson recovers.
The slide has been stark. The Ravens have lost four straight games and have been held below 14 points in four consecutive games for the first time in franchise history.
Seattle is in a similar spot this week, with Drew Lock starting for the Seahawks while Sam Darnold recovers from a quad injury.
What Brissett brings to Baltimore
Brissett, 33, arrives with 73 career starts over 11 NFL seasons. He started eight games for Arizona this season, completing 63.3 percent of his passes for 1,719 yards, 10 touchdowns and seven interceptions before losing the job to Minshew.
He also brings a familiar face. Brissett reunites with Ravens quarterbacks coach Israel Woolfork, who previously worked with him in Arizona and Cleveland — a connection that should help him pick up offensive coordinator Declan Doyle’s system quickly.
The schedule helps, too. With more than a week before the Chargers game, Brissett has time to build chemistry with Zay Flowers, Rashod Bateman and Mark Andrews before his first start in purple and black.
What comes next for the Ravens
The trade deadline arrives Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET, and DeCosta has already made his move. Whether Baltimore adds more help before then remains to be seen, but the quarterback question — the one that threatened to sink the season — now has an answer.
Analysis: a small price for a season still worth saving
This is a low-cost deal for a team that could not afford to wait. Moving down one round in 2027 and giving up a 2028 seventh-round pick is a modest price for a quarterback with 73 career starts, and Arizona paying more than half of Brissett’s remaining salary makes the math even easier.
Brissett will not fix everything. The offensive line has been inconsistent, and the defense has struggled to limit explosive plays. But the Ravens’ problem this week was simpler than that: they had no experienced quarterback at all. Brissett gives them one, and with the trade deadline days away, that is the move a team still chasing the playoffs had to make.
