The No Win Scenario

The Cincinnati Bengals and quarterback Carson Palmer have reached the no win scenario. Carson wants a trade or he threatens retirement. Owner Mike Brown has said he will not trade Palmer. Remember Brown beat the IRS, refused to trade Chad Ochocinco and blackmailed the city of Cincinnati to build him a new stadium. Carson has his Indian Hill, Ohio home for sale. Neither side has shown any inclination of moving. Now his left tackle, Andrew Whitworth, says Carson is serious about retiring.

The logical thing is to trade him. Of course, that would set the team back. And you can forget about playoffs for the 2011 season. A rookie quarterback is not going to lead the Bengals to the promise land. You could sign a caretaker quarterback and then draft one to develop. That would be best thing. But remember Mike Brown is known to make bone headed decisions. So expect Brown to stand his ground. And in a certain sense, you can't blame him. Brown had plans for Palmer to lead the team into the future. That's why he signed him to a long term deal. Setting a precedent to let a guy demand a trade when things don't go right would open the floodgates.

Expect Carson Palmer to retire. Palmer has made enough money and doesn't need to be crippled by playing football for the worst professional franchise in the history of man. It would help if Carson would retire quickly so the Bengals can address the quarterback position in the draft.

For the fans, it's a no win scenario. The Bengals would start all over with possibly a rookie quarterback. There would be not chance for the Bengals to go to the playoffs. Yes, the New York Jets did it in 2009 with a rookie quarterback. But they had a great offensive line too. The interesting thing if Palmer retires is that it would be one of the momentous days in Cincinnati sports. The franchise player of the Cincinnati Bengals would rather give up fifty million dollars than play for the ineptitude of Bengals owner Mike Brown.