After the dust has settled in an NFL trade, there’s a tendency to declare one team the winner and one team the loser. Carson Palmer says that’s not the right way to look at his trade from the Bengals to the Raiders last year.
Instead, Palmer said on the Dan Patrick Show that the Raiders benefited from getting him, the Bengals benefited from moving on, and both teams should be happy that they made the trade.
“In years to come, both organizations will look back and say this is the best thing that could have happened,” Palmer said.
Palmer has to hope that becomes the case, because right now it looks like the Bengals got the better end of the deal: The Bengals drafted their quarterback of the future in Andy Dalton after Palmer said he wouldn’t return to Cincinnati, then they traded Palmer to Oakland in exchange for the first-round pick they used this year on cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick, plus a conditional pick next year that will be either a first- or second-round selection. Right now the Bengals have to be thrilled with how things turned out.
This season Palmer will try to make the Raiders thrilled with how things turned out, too.