With the start of the regular season less than three weeks away, Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer still hasn’t officially retired.
When he didn’t show up for the start of training camp, the Bengals placed Palmer on the reserve/did not report list, a move that potentially exposes Palmer to $30,000 per day in fines.
As a result, Palmer’s $11.5 million salary currently doesn’t count toward the cap, which is irrelevant since the Bengals remain many millions under the spending limit.
The end game for both sides remains unclear. Palmer possibly hasn’t officially retired in order to preserve his ability to show up on a moment’s notice, if he decides to do so. By reporting, for example, in the days before the first game of the season, the Bengals would have to decide quickly whether to cut him or to keep him, given that his base salary becomes fully guaranteed as of Week One.
Either way, this thing isn’t over yet. Otherwise, Palmer would simply file his retirement papers, and move on.