The Ravens cannot know when Lamar Jackson will be ready to play again. What they can do is try to make sure their season still matters if he returns. That is what makes their pending trade for Jacoby Brissett more than an emergency response to an injury crisis. Baltimore is not finding someone to replace everything Jackson brings to its offense. It is trying to keep his absence from becoming the point where a difficult season slips away. With the deal expected to be finalized over the weekend, Brissett represents a chance to buy time.
The need for help became impossible to ignore after Baltimore lost both of its top quarterbacks. Jackson needs surgery on a thumb injury that could end his season, while Tyler Huntley is expected to miss the remainder of the year with turf toe. That left undrafted rookie Joe Fagnano, who was preparing to make his first NFL start Thursday night against Jacksonville. Behind him are Kedon Slovis and Austin Reed, neither of whom has started an NFL game. For a team still trying to remain in the playoff picture, that is considerable uncertainty to place on one position.
It is understandable that Ravens fans would see the pursuit of Brissett and wonder whether it means the organization expects Jackson back late in the year. There is a hopeful interpretation: Baltimore wants to remain competitive because there might be something worth handing back to its franchise quarterback. Yet the trade itself cannot tell anyone how quickly Jackson’s thumb will heal. His injury remains potentially season-ending, and adding a veteran quarterback makes sense even if he never takes another snap this season. The move preserves the possibility of a meaningful return without providing evidence that one is coming.
That distinction matters because the Ravens have work to do before a late-season comeback could change their outlook. Baltimore entered Thursday at 4-4 after three consecutive losses, sitting last in the AFC North and 10th in the conference. The offense had scored no more than 13 points in each of those defeats, something the franchise had not done across three straight games since 2005. This was not a team comfortably positioned to wait out another quarterback absence. Even before considering Jackson’s recovery, the Ravens needed a way to stop their slide and give themselves a chance to regain ground.
Brissett offers experience, although his recent results should keep expectations grounded. He started 20 consecutive games for Arizona before being benched during Sunday’s win over Dallas and falling behind Gardner Minshew and rookie Carson Beck on the depth chart. The Cardinals went 3-5 in his starts this season after finishing 1-11 in his starts last year. Those records do not explain everything about his performance or the teams around him. They do, however, make it difficult to argue Baltimore is acquiring someone who can turn its season around on his own.
The better argument is that Brissett can give the offense a workable foundation. Across those 20 Arizona starts, he ranked fifth in passing yards and fourth in completion percentage over expected, according to ESPN. He also took 62 sacks, tied for the most in the league during that stretch. There is enough passing production to see why Baltimore would pursue him, but enough difficulty to understand why the supporting cast will matter. The Ravens do not need him to play like Jackson. They need him to sustain drives, create opportunities for their playmakers, and keep the offense from spending entire games searching for answers.
Brissett would at least arrive with a familiar coach to help him settle in. Ravens quarterbacks coach Israel Woolfork worked with him in Arizona last season and previously in Cleveland in 2022. That relationship cannot replace practice time, but it gives Baltimore a starting point when identifying what Brissett knows and what he does well. The schedule offers some breathing room, too, with 11 days between Thursday’s game and the November 16th matchup against the Chargers. Brissett is expected to be ready for that game, giving the Ravens an opportunity to prepare him rather than immediately push him into the lineup.
Still, keeping Baltimore afloat will require more than getting a veteran comfortable with the playbook. The offensive line must give him time, the running game must help create manageable situations, and the defense must keep games within reach. If the Ravens routinely need their new quarterback to overcome protection breakdowns and large deficits, they will be asking too much of the move. NFL.com described Brissett as an experienced distributor while noting accuracy concerns from his Arizona tenure. A steadier offense is a reasonable goal. An offense suddenly free of its existing problems is not.
The financial arrangement makes the gamble easier to understand, even with draft compensation still unreported. Arizona converted $2.7 million of Brissett’s remaining salary into a signing bonus, leaving Baltimore expected to owe about $2.43 million in base salary if the deal closes after Thursday, plus applicable incentives. Whether the overall price proves worthwhile will depend on the final terms and what Brissett delivers. For now, the Ravens are giving themselves another way forward instead of simply waiting for Jackson’s prognosis to determine their season. Brissett cannot promise there will be a playoff race for Jackson to rejoin. He can help Baltimore keep that possibility alive.
