Breaking Down the Palmer Deal: Who comes out on top?

I originally mean to write this as a recap of the trade deadline deals, but since the only other Tuesday deal was just revoked because of Jerome Harrison’s brain tumor (how crazy was that), I can focus up on the big news of the day. Tuesday the Cincinnati Bengals finally traded disgruntled quarterback Carson Palmer. The deal? Palmer goes to Oakland, who sends back a first round draft pick in 2012 and a conditional second round pick in 2013 that could turn into a first rounder if the Raiders make it to the AFC title game in the next two years. A king’s ransom for an aging quarterback? Or a crafty move to save a season? Let’s break down this deal!

For as old, stubborn and curmudgeonly as Bengals owner Mike Brown is, you can say this: He made the right move. There was no possible way this deal would have come along this offseason, when Palmer was an afterthought at 32. He waited until a team was ripe with desperation and offered up the farm for a player that would never play for him again. Now he possibly has TWO number one draft picks coming back for Palmer, which apparently is the going rate for franchise quarterbacks. (See the Jay Cutler trade.)

They’ll be winners if Palmer gets anywhere near his former glory and gets them into the playoffs. They’ll be epic fails for years if he continues to decline as he has the fast three seasons following his slew of injuries. Once one of the top three quarterbacks in the NFL, Palmer has deteriorated in skill and probably isn’t worth this hefty price. That apparently didn’t matter to head coach Hue Jackson, who worked with Palmer before at USC and Cincy. Jackson’s been given the key to the car, let’s just hope he hasn’t traded his reliable pewter Corolla for a 90’s era Camaro with a busted axle, torn leather seats and a bullet hole in the engine block.  (Best analogy I had.)

I can’t help but feel sorry for him. As soon as he gets a fair shot with a coach that actually knows how to run an offense, he breaks his collarbone and ends up being replaced by a 31-year old that was semi-retired the day before.  How’s that for a crappy ending to a job? Campbell has surely taken his last snap for the Raiders. Back in six weeks? How about never back at all? Campbell will have to catch on next season with a new team and a new coordinator… again.

What do you think of this deal? Yay or nay! Shoot me a message on Twitter and let me know!