Carson Palmer insists that he won’t return to Cincinnati, while the Bengals insist that they won’t trade him. But while that might sound like a recipe for a lengthy battle between player and team, it might not be.
In fact, Peter King writes in this week’s Monday Morning Quarterback that Bengals coach Marvin Lewis is telling people he knows in the football world that Palmer won’t be back, and the Bengals are taking a close look at all the quarterback prospects in this year’s draft.
“Marvin knows how stubborn Carson is, and he thinks no matter what happens, the guy won’t change his mind,’' one club executive told King.
But while Palmer would like to be traded -- preferably closer to home, like San Francisco or Arizona -- Bengals owner Mike Brown has continued to say that he doesn’t want to trade his quarterback. So the only remaining option for Palmer could be retiring.