Either the Bengals are going to trade Carson Palmer, or they are going to force a player who was once one of the game’s better quarterbacks into retirement. Anyone who has paid attention since the NFL season concluded knows that Palmer wants to be traded, but his latest remarks seem out of character for a notoriously classy player. The comments prove the 31-year-old has reached the boiling point.
“I will never set foot in Paul Brown Stadium again,” Palmer told WCPO through friends. “I have $80 million in the bank. I don’t have to play football for money. I’ll play it for the love of the game but that would have to be elsewhere. I’m prepared to live my life.”
That certainly sounds like a veteran who’s not messing around. Who can blame him? Palmer has wasted away in Cincinnati his entire career, leaving behind the best days of his career when he blew out his knee in a seemingly inevitable playoff loss to the Steelers. Bengals owner Mike Brown has tried his best to assure fans he has no intention of trading his franchise quarterback, but that decision could be out of his control.
In his most recent edition of Monday Morning Quarterback, Peter King indicated that the Bengals are finally entertaining offers for Palmer. That’s probably a smart move. When a normally quiet athlete starts revealing the quantity of his life savings, you should take the hint. Not to mention, Palmer has done enough for Cincinnati over the years. Players like Palmer deserve at least a shot at contending for a championship, and there’s no way the Bengals are going to provide him with it.
