Ravens Trade for Jacoby Brissett After Lamar Jackson Thumb Injury

The Baltimore Ravens are finalizing a trade with the Arizona Cardinals for veteran quarterback Jacoby Brissett after Lamar Jackson injured the thumb on his throwing hand. Jackson needs surgery and may not play again this season, which leaves Baltimore without its starting quarterback and without its backup. Tyler Huntley is also out for the season. The deal is not yet official, and the compensation has not been set, but it is expected to be completed this weekend. Brissett would then be in line to make his Ravens debut against the Los Angeles Chargers on Monday Night Football in Week 10.

Quick Facts

Why Baltimore Had to Make a Move

The Ravens did not have a choice here. When a team loses its starting quarterback and its backup in the same stretch, the season can fall apart in a week. Baltimore is in that spot right now. Jackson is the heart of the offense, and Huntley was the safety net behind him. With both men out, the Ravens were left with an undrafted rookie as the only healthy option at the most important position on the field. That is not a plan for a team that still wants to compete.

Brissett gives Baltimore something it does not have right now, and that is a quarterback who has started real games in the NFL and who has run a full offense for weeks at a time. He is not a long term answer, and nobody in Baltimore is pretending that he is. He is a bridge. He can step in, learn the plan, take the snaps, and keep the team steady while Jackson recovers. For a team in the middle of a season, steady is valuable.

Jackson needs surgery

The injury happened fast, and it changed the whole direction of the Ravens season in a single play. Jackson hurt the thumb on his throwing hand on the first play against Buffalo on Sunday. A thumb injury for a quarterback is not like a thumb injury for most players. The thumb guides the ball, controls the spin, and helps a quarterback place throws with touch and accuracy. When that thumb is damaged badly enough to need surgery, throwing a football the way an NFL quarterback has to throw it becomes very hard.

Jackson needs surgery, and the expectation is that he will go on injured reserve. The reports say he may not play again this season. That is a serious blow for Baltimore and for Jackson himself. He is one of the most exciting players in the league, and his running and passing make the Ravens offense hard to defend. Without him, the offense has to change. It cannot lean on the same plays or the same threat at the line of scrimmage.

The loss to Buffalo made the picture even worse. You can read more about that game in our report on the Bills rout of the Ravens and the Lamar Jackson thumb injury. The defeat itself hurt, but the injury hurt more, because it took away the player Baltimore builds everything around. The Ravens now have to find a way to win games without him, and that starts with getting a quarterback who can run a normal NFL offense.

Who Is Jacoby Brissett and What He Brings

Brissett is 33 years old, and he has been around the NFL long enough to know what this job asks of a backup quarterback. He has started games for more than one team, he has come off the bench in tough spots, and he has run offenses that were built for other players. That experience is exactly what Baltimore needs right now. The Ravens do not need a quarterback to be a star. They need one who will not lose the game, who will make the throws that are there, and who will keep the offense on schedule.

His style fits the role. Brissett is a pocket passer who can move when he has to, but he is not going to replace what Jackson does with his legs. Nobody can. What he can do is run the passing game, use the running backs, find the tight ends, and take what the defense gives him. He has a strong arm and a calm way of playing, and he has shown that he can handle a starting job for a stretch of games without the offense falling apart.

What Brissett Did in Arizona in 2026

Brissett started the first eight games of the 2026 season for Arizona, so he comes to Baltimore in game shape and with recent starting experience. That is a big plus. He is not a quarterback who has been sitting on a bench all year waiting for a call. He has been playing, reading defenses, and throwing in real games. In those eight starts, he threw for 1,719 yards with 10 touchdowns and 7 interceptions. He completed 63.3 percent of his passes and finished with a 79.7 passer rating.

Those numbers tell a fair story. The completion rate shows he can hit the throws a quarterback is supposed to hit. The touchdown total shows he can move the ball into the end zone. The seven interceptions show that he is not perfect, and that he will make mistakes if he is forced to throw into tight windows too often. Baltimore will need to protect him with a smart game plan, a strong running game, and throws that play to his strengths.

His time in Arizona ended in a strange way. He was benched during the November 1 overtime win over Dallas, and Gardner Minshew II took over at quarterback. Being benched is never easy for a starter, but it also opened the door for this trade. Arizona had a reason to move on, and Baltimore had a clear need. That is how trades like this happen. One team has a player it no longer plans to start, and another team has a hole it has to fill right away.

What Happens Next for the Ravens

The short term picture is clear. Undrafted rookie Joe Fagnano will start on Thursday night against the Jacksonville Jaguars. That is a tough spot for any rookie, and it is even tougher on a short week with little time to prepare. The Ravens will try to keep the plan simple for him, lean on the running game, and ask the defense to keep the game close.

After Thursday, the focus shifts to Brissett. If the trade is completed this weekend as expected, he will have a full week to prepare for the Chargers game on Monday Night Football in Week 10. That game will be his first chance to show what he can do in a Ravens uniform. It will also be the first real test of whether this trade can keep Baltimore in the race. A win would give the team hope and time. A loss would make the road much harder.

The bigger question is Jackson. If he goes on injured reserve and misses the rest of the season, Baltimore has to build its hopes around Brissett and the rest of the roster. That means the defense has to play well, the running game has to be strong, and the coaching staff has to call games that fit the quarterback they have, not the one they wish they had. Sports moves fast, and a trade like this can change how a season feels in a single weekend. Just as schedules and plans can shift in other sports, as we saw when Caitlin Clark skipped the Annika pro-am in 2026 because of a scheduling conflict, a team has to adjust when its plans change. Baltimore is adjusting now, and it will need the same fight that turns games around, much like the comeback we covered in Persib Bandung and the Melbourne victory in a 2-1 comeback in Australia.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Jacoby Brissett trade to the Ravens official yet?

No, the deal is not yet official. The Ravens are finalizing a trade with the Arizona Cardinals for Jacoby Brissett, and it is expected to be completed this weekend. The compensation has not been set or reported yet, so any talk of draft picks or other pieces is not confirmed at this time.

Why are the Ravens trading for Jacoby Brissett?

Baltimore needs a quarterback because Lamar Jackson injured the thumb on his throwing hand and needs surgery. He may not play again this season and is expected to go on injured reserve. Backup Tyler Huntley is also out for the season with a turf toe injury.

When will Jacoby Brissett play his first game for Baltimore?

If the trade is completed this weekend as expected, Brissett is set to make his Ravens debut against the Los Angeles Chargers on Monday Night Football in Week 10. He would have a full week to prepare for that game after the trade is done.

Who will start at quarterback for the Ravens on Thursday night?

Undrafted rookie Joe Fagnano will start on Thursday night against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Brissett is not expected to be ready in time for that game, since the trade is still being finalized and he needs time to join the team and learn the plan.

Sources

USA Today reported that the Ravens are finalizing a trade with the Arizona Cardinals for Jacoby Brissett, and it covered the Lamar Jackson thumb injury, the surgery, the Huntley turf toe injury, the Fagnano start on Thursday night, Brissett 2026 stats, and the contract figures. You can read more at USA Today. azcentral, the Arizona Republic site, also reported the trade talks and the move for Brissett, along with his benching during the November 1 overtime win over Dallas. You can read more at azcentral. ESPN and NFL Network reporting, including updates shared by Adam Schefter and Ian Rapoport, has also covered the trade talks and the Jackson injury news. You can read more at ESPN.

Final Thoughts

This trade is about survival. The Ravens lost their star quarterback to a thumb injury that needs surgery, and they lost their backup to a season-ending turf toe injury. That is a brutal run of luck at one position, and it could have ended the season. Instead, Baltimore is making a move. Jacoby Brissett is not Lamar Jackson, and no one should expect him to play like Jackson. What he can do is run an offense, make smart throws, and give the Ravens a chance to win games while Jackson recovers.