Grading the Jacoby Brissett deal: How did Cardinals do in the draft compensation they got?

Jacoby Brissett’s time with the Cardinals had run its course with his benching Sunday, and Arizona managed to pull some draft capital out of the player asset no longer providing value.

The Cardinals sent Brissett and a 2027 fifth-round pick to the Baltimore Ravens for a 2027 fourth-round pick and a 2028 seventh-round pick. ESPN’s draft pick valuations equate the deal to getting an early sixth-round pick back for the quarterback.

ESPN’s Seth Walder gave Arizona a B and Baltimore a B+ for their respective roles in the deal.

While the bidding war for Brissett’s services didn’t quite develop the way Walder envisioned, the opportunity for Arizona to recoup some of the value after taking two bridge quarterbacks into the season could prove beneficial.

Getting some of the money back from Brissett’s amended contract following his offseason dispute with the team is an added benefit for the Cardinals. Arizona Sports’ John Gambadoro reported Baltimore will pay $2.3 million of the remaining deal.

While that’s not a huge number and it won’t help the team “buy” help for the roster this season, getting any money back will always be a plus for an organization that has been frugal.

Perhaps a bidding war would’ve developed if not for the possible rush to get a deal done, as Arizona had just benched Brissett and Baltimore was down to its third-string quarterback, an undrafted rookie in Joe Fagnano.

The weekly pressure on the Cardinals from fans and reporters to see what they have in Carson Beck likely only added fuel to the fire.

As for Baltimore, Walder called the deal a Hail Mary to try and make the playoffs despite Lamar Jackson’s potentially season-ending injury and a significant turf toe injury for backup Tyler Huntley.

Brissett has a 48.9 QBR, ranking 23rd out of 30 out of qualified starters, but Baltimore is not judging between starting-caliber signal-callers.

“Brissett is rightfully a fringe starter in the NFL, but that also makes him a substantial upgrade over undrafted rookie Joe Fagnano,” Walder wrote.

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