The Baltimore Ravens are acquiring Jacoby Brissett from the Arizona Cardinals, adding some much-needed quarterback depth after potential season-ending injuries to Lamar Jackson and Tyler Huntley. Here are Baltimore Beatdown’s instant reactions to the move, and be sure to add yours in the comments section below!
Nikhil Mehta
I have long been a Jacoby Brissett fan. Turns out, so is Eric DeCosta! This is hardly a surprising trade considering the Ravens’ injury crisis at quarterback, and Brissett is exactly the type
of bridge passer I expected the team to pick up. Look, we all like Joe Fagnano, but the undrafted rookie out of UConn simply is not ready to command an NFL offense. Fans will debate if the Ravens should even be trying to win games for the rest of the season, but this franchise was never going to throw in the towel. Brissett can provide a base level of play for as long as the Ravens need it. Keeping the team’s playoff hopes alive is another question entirely.
Mark Myers
This trade seemed likely on Sunday night, but became nailed on as soon as Arizona announced Brissett would drop to QB3 on their depth chart. Although his season has been much worse than 2025 (when he had a 23/8 TD/INT ratio), he can push the ball down the field and feed the Ravens’ weapons better than any of the current healthy options could. Compensation may take a while to be reported, but I suspect it won’t be anything above a 5th-round pick, maybe as low as a 6th-round pick going the other way. I’m just hoping this offense is watchable. Thankfully, Brissett’s debut is set to be against the Chargers. Maybe a win against Los Angeles in primetime can give the team a spark.
Zach Canter
I’m not a fan of this. My guess is this moves means the Ravens brass is fairly confident Lamar Jackson will return this season and they want a veteran quarterback capable of keeping them within striking distance of a playoff spot. Otherwise, this truly makes no sense. In my opinion, even if Jackson is capable of coming back this year, I still think it makes no sense. This team is riddled with issues, front and center being the offensive line. While I still think it can be a good unit if they can get the desired starting five on the field, which has happened for less than a quarter of total eight games, it’s still a question mark. The defense is still highly inconsistent. Their coaching staff seems to be young and learning as they go, which is fine and makes sense. But none of this adds up to a Super Bowl contending team. I am of the belief that the Ravens should be selling tradeable pieces at the deadline (Humphrey, Stanley, Andrews, Henry, Campbell, Washington, etc), locked 100% in on figuring out the Lamar Jackson extension, and building towards a massive roster overhaul to give Jesse Minter a team in his vision for 2027. Even if this trade is for as little as a 6th round pick, I don’t love it. If it’s for a 5th or more, I absolutely hate it and we should call DeCosta’s priorities of the future into question, as well as his job.
Dustin Cox
The Ravens had to make a move to get another competent quarterback in the building and Brissett perhaps made the most sense of their options. Brissett can hopefully elevate the Ravens’ offense to watchable status, but I don’t expect him to move the needle very much in terms of winning games. If Lamar Jackson is able to come back at some point this season, then Brissett can hopefully keep the team afloat and in the playoff hunt, but my expectations for the rest of the season are about as low as they can get at this moment. Acquiring an established veteran like Brissett at least sends the message to players on the team that the season isn’t being punted on entirely.
Kevin McNelis
Jacoby Brissett provides more veteran leadership than you would have otherwise had in this QB room, and he has enough of an arm and a deep ball that he’s serviceable. Not great, certainly not elite, but serviceable, which is more than what we can say about the unknowns of UDFA and practice squad crew that the Ravens had otherwise. The concern now would be what Baltimore gave up to get him (which hasn’t been disclosed as of this writing) and whether they can keep him upright and healthy.
If this deal ends up being much ado about nothing as they move through a tough portion of their schedule, they can say they tried. From a roster-building standpoint, we may end up at Draft time grumbling about winning some games that didn’t help them move up the board, but the front office will always prioritize trying to compete if they think things can be salvaged.
