In-season quarterback trades aren't common in the NFL. Then again, neither is the situation facing the Baltimore Ravens.
With starter Lamar Jackson and backup Tyler Huntley expected to be sidelined
for the remainder of the season, the Ravens sought out external help. On Friday, Nov. 6, the team finalized a trade to acquire Jacoby Brissett from the Arizona Cardinals, according to ESPN. The Ravens will receive Brissett and a 2027 fifth-round pick in exchange for a 2027 fourth-round pick and a 2028 seventh-round pick.The move helped both Brissett and the Cardinals close out the veteran passer's tenure in Arizona after he was demoted to the third string this week, with backup Gardner Minshew seizing the starting job. In Baltimore, he should have
another opportunity to revive his career with an organization still fighting to stay relevant in 2026 amid such deflating setbacks.
But which team fared better in the deal? Here are our grades for both sides:
Baltimore Ravens grade: C+
What's the end game here?
It's understandable that a team still hovering around . 500 – and an organization not accustomed to fading into irrelevance – might have a problem with waving the white flag for the second half of the season. Indeed, Brissett would seem a much more viable option than Joe Fagnano, who looked lost in a prime time loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, or scrap-heap additions in Austin Reed and Kedon Slovis.
But this still feels like a team fighting an inevitable fate. While Brissett has proven industrious as a spot starter, he's hardly the kind of figure who could propel a highly flawed group to compete in the AFC North, much less the conference at large. Take Thursday night's blowout loss to the Jaguars, for example. Brissett might have kept the contest closer, but his presence still might not have mattered much against a top-tier contender.
Add in the schematic whiplash that offensive coordinator Declan Doyle might have in trying to adapt a scheme built around Jackson to now fit a pocket-bound passer in Brissett, and the ceiling feels decidedly low here.
Bottoming out can be scary for NFL decision-makers, and it's understandable why a regime that expected a quick turnaround from John Harbaugh's final year would struggle to resign itself to such an outcome. But this isn't an outfit that should be depreciating its draft capital further – even if the cost isn't great – to attempt to rescue a lost season.
Arizona Cardinals grade: B-
It's certainly fair to question the Cardinals' larger approach to investing at quarterback.
Arizona might have been better off opting for a clean break at quarterback, with first-year coach Mike LaFleur perhaps getting a better look at an option more suitable to his scheme. Nevertheless, the Cardinals defused the summer standoff with Brissett by giving him a revised deal. Eight games later, he was fully out of the team's plans.
Good job to at least recoup something for him, though this deal seems largely the product of some bad fortune for Baltimore.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jacoby Brissett trade grades: Who won QB deal between Ravens, Cardinals?
