The trade details aren’t even revealed yet — and the Baltimore Ravens are still emerging as the winners of their trade with the Arizona Cardinals for Jacoby Brissett.
The two teams are to finalize a deal on Brissett over the weekend, via NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, but a few key details still leaked beforehand with the trade announcement. A huge part of the report was the restructuring of Brissett’s contract.
Ravens Benefit from Cardinals Restructuring Jacoby Brissett’s Contract
Per ESPN’s Field Yates, “$2.7 million of Brissett’s remaining $5.4 million salary this season was converted into a signing bonus, meaning the Ravens will owe him $2.7 million if the trade is completed today or $2.43 million if the trade is completed after that.”
Brissett signed a two-year, $12.5 million deal with Arizona in March 2025, and he had the deal reworked by the time the regular season started.
According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, “Cardinals quarterback Jacoby Brissett signed his reworked contract in August [sic] while knowing a midseason trade was at least a possibility. The plan was that Brissett would take Arizona as far as he could, and with the team’s roster still in a transitional state, a benching or a pivot to trade candidacy was always going to be on the table.”
In the reworked deal, the Cardinals reworked his deal to bump his guaranteed money to $15.5 million, with extra performance incentives maxing out at $21 million.
Heading into this trade, Brissett had $5.4 million left in base salary for the rest of 2026. To pull off the trade, Arizona converted $2.7 million of that money into a signing bonus and paid it out themselves as dead cap.
That simple move cut Baltimore’s bill in half, leaving the Ravens owing just $2.7 million (or $2.43 million if processed post-game) while simply inheriting his existing incentives.
Brissett Saw the Trade Coming
Brissett knew he was a short-term rental in Arizona, and it would be so much time before the Cardinals trade him. The short-term contract solidified that line of thought for Brissett.
That made getting Brissett an absolute steal for the Ravens. Already struggling with Lamar Jackson’s season-ending thumb injury requiring surgery, and backup Tyler Huntley went down on the same day with a season-ending toe injury, getting a QB who can push the ball downfield was a must. Plus, they got one in a way that won’t hurt their cap space much.
Since the trade is yet to be finalized, undrafted rookie Joe Fagnano will start on Thursday Night vs. the Jaguars, with Brissett filling in later in Week 10 vs. the Chargers.
Plus, Brissett spent the past two seasons working closely with current Ravens quarterback coach Israel Woolfork back in Arizona. That built-in system familiarity means Brissett skips the usual multi-week playbook learning curve, letting Baltimore drop a veteran straight into the huddle almost immediately.
Ravens Get Major Cap Discount in Jacoby Brissett Trade With Cardinals