The Baltimore Ravens’ season went from bad to worse on Sunday.
Quarterback Lamar Jackson lasted just one play in his return from a high ankle sprain, injuring his right thumb when his throwing hand struck Buffalo Bills edge-rusher Greg Rousseau.
After the 36-10 loss, head coach Jesse Minter said Jackson will need surgery and be placed on injured reserve. When asked if it could be season-ending, Minter said “potentially.”
The blows didn’t stop there. Backup Tyler Huntley left in the first half with what ESPN’s Adam Schefter said is believed to be turf toe, forcing undrafted rookie Joe Fagnano into his first NFL regular-season action.
Fagnano completed 10 of 21 passes for 91 yards with an interception and a lost fumble. Minter said the team will figure out by Monday whether it needs to add a quarterback.
If the Ravens do go shopping, there’s one player they’ve been linked to before that they could potentially revisit.
A Ravens-Shedeur Sanders Deal Makes a Lot of Sense
Baltimore planned to draft Sanders in 2025, according to a report from Schefter last September, but the former Colorado star let the Ravens know he didn’t want to sit behind Jackson with no chance to play.
Former Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken, now the Browns’ head coach, all but confirmed it when he met Sanders for the first time in January.
“We tried to draft your a** last year,” Monken told Sanders in a video posted by the Browns.
Fast forward to now, and the one thing that kept Sanders from wanting to go to Baltimore is no longer standing in his way — at least for the time being.
Meanwhile, Sanders has been stuck on the bench behind Deshaun Watson, who beat him out for the starting job in training camp. The only action Sanders has seen came Sunday, when he played four snaps against the Pittsburgh Steelers while Watson was being evaluated after a high hit.
He also hired an agent earlier this month — a move many believe was aimed at facilitating a trade.
Sanders has shown he can play, too. The second-year QB started the final seven games of his rookie season, going 3-4 with 1,400 yards passing, seven touchdowns, and 10 interceptions while earning a Pro Bowl nod as an injury replacement. His best outing came in Week 14 against the Tennessee Titans, when he threw for 364 yards and three touchdowns and added a rushing score.
Surrounded by weapons like Zay Flowers, Rashod Bateman, Mark Andrews and Derrick Henry, Sanders would be a significant upgrade over Fagnano. He’d also come cheap, as he’s on a four-year, $4.6 million rookie contract.
Would the Browns Help a Division Rival?
Prying Sanders away from Cleveland won’t be easy, however.
Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot reported last week that the Browns have no plans to trade Sanders or Dillon Gabriel before the Nov. 10 trade deadline, “unless someone makes them an offer they can’t refuse.”
Then there’s the obvious problem: the Ravens and Browns are division foes.
Cleveland already beat Baltimore once this season and doesn’t have much incentive to help its rival save its season, so the Ravens would likely need to overpay to acquire Sanders. That’s the cost of doing business within the division.
Still, with Gabriel back from injured reserve, the Browns have the depth to part with Sanders if the price is right.
Cleveland fell to 5-3 and sits in third place in the AFC North after a 27-6 loss to the Steelers on Sunday, just one game ahead of the Ravens.
For a Baltimore team that may be without its two-time MVP QB for the rest of the year, Sanders could be worth whatever it takes to keep the season from slipping away.
Ravens’ QB Crisis Could Reopen Door for Shedeur Sanders Trade