Palmer vs Brown: The Bungles Fiasco

Mike Brown, president of the Cincinnati Bengals, has created his own version of the Cuban Missile Crisis with his hardline stance regarding Carson Palmer’s future with his team.  Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last few months you know that Palmer requested a trade from the Bengals indicating that a change of scenery would be best for both him and the Bengals.  Mike Brown responded by saying he would not trade the former first overall pick.  Carson cemented his stance by issuing a statement saying he would retire if the Bengals didn’t trade him.  Mike Brown then stated he wished Palmer ‘all the best’ in his retirement.  Both parties are involved in a standoff and neither seems to be willing to blink.  

Up until 2005, Palmer’s career was on a great trajectory.  He had led the Bengals to the playoffs and was emerging as one of the top five signal callers in the league.  The only explanation I have for what happened next is that he must have really pissed off the football gods.  

Starting with the 2005 playoffs, Palmer has had the good fortune of:

     - Getting his knee completely blown out and undergoing extensive surgery 

     - Suffering an injury to his throwing elbow that made him miss the majority of the 08 season

     - Being forced to play Commissioner Gordon to Batman (T.O.) and Robin (OchoCinco)

     - Having to deal with the constant boos and jeers from the Bengals ‘faithful’ without anyone in the    organization coming to his defense

Unlike most players who request a trade, Palmer has given everything he’s had to the Bengals organization for the last 7 years.  He never complained and always approached his job with a workman-like attitude.

The reality is the Bengals could receive at least a 2^nd round pick for Palmer.  Cincinnati can use all the help it can get as their roster is falling apart.  If you look at this from a pure business perspective, Mike Brown has an asset in Palmer.  The return on investment can be draft picks, or nothing if he maintains his stance of not trading him.  Brown believes it will benefit him in the long run by sending a signal to other future players that he will not yield to trade requests.  That’s great and all, but it’s also going to ensure that free agents have less incentive to sign in Cinci (if that’s even possible).

I also think Brown is drastically underestimating the power Carson has.    The reality is the Bengals need to take Carson’s retirement threat seriously and as such, will have to pick a quarterback early in this year’s draft.  If they choose one at #4 overall, the contract will be fairly steep.  If that’s the case, Palmer could show up to camp, get paid his $12 million for the year, and really put the Bengals in a salary cap bind.  There’s no rule that says Palmer has to be a model citizen to collect his money.  He could act disinterested and only work the bare minimum.  If nothing else, that would create a pretty tough environment for a rookie quarterback to learn and develop.  

The reality is, Palmer is too much of a class act to go through with the aforementioned threats. He will stick to his word and retire well before his time.  It’s a shame the Mike Brown and the Bengals don’t have the same amount of class.