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| I pray this is not the last we see of Carson Palmer... it just can't be. |
If you are unfamiliar with his situation, after last year's disastrous season in Cincinnati, Palmer asked for a trade and threatened to retire if he was not on another team's roster by the start of the season. Mike Brown, the Bengals' headstrong owner, refused to have his personnel decisions made by one of his players and he denied Palmer's request for a trade. So far, each side has held strong and made good on their respective promises. Palmer is "retired" and Brown seems unwilling to move his old franchise quarterback.
However, with the trade deadline nearing, it is in the best interest of both parties to part ways and start anew. Andy Dalton is the future quarterback for the Bengals, who has impressed everyone so far by going 3-2. The Bengals don't need Palmer, but they could really use some draft picks in order to help out this young and improving team.
There are plenty of clubs that are in need of a quarterback to stabilize their team before their season completely goes down the tube. Palmer is only 31-years-old and has a lot of football left in him. It would be a shame to see a high character guy like him have his career cut short by a stubborn owner who values his pride over the well being of his team.
The Seahawks would be the first team I think of that would make sense for this trade to happen. With their starting quarterback, Tarvaris Jackson, looking like he will miss significant amount of time, and their backup quarterback, Charlie Whitehurst, looking mediocre at best, it might be time for a Trojan reunion in Washington.
Seahawks' coach, Pete Carroll, coached Palmer at USC and helped him win the Heisman Trophy. This is a trade that makes too much sense not to happen. I really hope that Brown puts his pride aside, clears his team of this controversy and gains some valuable draft picks to help it get better. Palmer better be in football shape so that we can see him on the field again and not just in ridiculous hot dog ads.
By draft picks, did you mean first and second rounders, or were you more just thinking of maybe a third, possibly a fourth? The Bengals certainly made out better for a guy that wasn't playing compared to what the Broncos got for a guy that was a star player!
ReplyDeleteAlso, for the record, I thought Mark Sanchez was the best quarterback to come through USC. He just didn't stick around for a second year to pile up the stats, but he was a phenomenal college player! Then again, Carson was before my time.