Holdout veteran quarterback Carson Palmer was traded by the Cincinnati Bengals today to the Oakland Raiders in exchange for, get this, a 2012 first round pick and a 2013 second rounder (which would become another first round pick if Oakland reaches the playoffs this year).
The surprise 4-2 Raiders were in desperate need of a quarterback following Jason Campbell's broken collarbone he suffered this past Sunday. The only other QBs on the roster were the recently reinstated Terrelle Pryor, who isn't even close to being ready to be an NFL QB, and Kyle Boller, a guy with a career QB rating of 70. Neither of these two guys are who you want trying to lead a team to a playoff berth.
So the Raiders took action. They were willing to give up a lot; potentially two first round picks. It seems as if they vastly overvalued Palmer, a guy who threw twenty picks last year. He probably hasn't been working hard during his holdout and has likely lost respect from those around the league. While he is certainly an upgrade from the two guys that were riding their bench, and maybe even starter Jason Campbell, two first rounders is a pretty hefty price.
Cincinnati was steadfast on not trading Palmer; owner Mike Brown said he didn't want to reward him for holding out by granting his request. But when the Raiders put their offer on the table, he had no choice but to jump at it. The encouraging play of rookie Andy Dalton made dealing Palmer easier to do.
"We also find ourselves rather suddenly in position of being able to receive real value for Carson that can measurably improve our team, which is performing well and is showing real promise for this year and years to come," Brown said in a statement. "When this opportunity arose, we felt we could not let it pass and needed to take a step forward with the football team if we could."
Maybe the fact that Palmer would probably have retired instead of playing for the Bengals also contributed.
Before they made the Palmer offer, the Raiders had pursued free agent QB David Garrard, but he informed them he was getting surgery and would be unavailable to play for a significant amount of time. A comparable quarterback to Palmer, he would have come to Oakland at a much lesser price.
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