Carson Palmer: Will Embattled Bengals QB Ever Start Another NFL Game?

It's hard to not feel bad for quarterback Carson Palmer, currently a Cincinnati Bengal in contract only.

The veteran quarterback has been unhappy with his position with the Bengals for some time and asked to be traded after the end of the 2010 season, threatening retirement if the team does not comply with his wishes.

Comply they didn't. Bengals owner, the much-reviled Mike Brown, made it clear this summer that the Bengals are, without question, unwilling to release Palmer from his four-year contract:

"

“Carson signed a contract. He made a commitment. He gave his word,’’ Brown said. “We relied on his word. We relied on his commitment. We expected him to perform here. He’s going to walk away from his commitment. We aren’t going to reward him for doing it.’’

"

The fact that Brown considers capitulating to Palmer's trade request as a reward implies that staying with the Bengals is a punishment, and it's hard to disagree.

The Bengals have been one of the worst-performing offenses in the league, even in a 2010 season that saw both Chad Ochocinco and Terrell Owens as primary receiving targets for Palmer. Much of this rests on personnel issues, mismanagement and poor coaching; far less of this problem is just Palmer's alone.

As recently as last summer, ESPN senior NFL analyst John Clayton had Palmer listed as one of the elite quarterbacks in the NFL. While this may be a tad off-base—Palmer has a career completion percentage of 62.9, with 154 touchdowns and 100 interceptions in his seven seasons—he is certainly a talented quarterback with much left to contribute in the league.

The most frustrating thing about Palmer's situation is that he has no control over when or for which team he can make those contributions. It is certain that Palmer still has a desire to play, just not in Cincinnati.

If he files retirement papers, and then comes back to the game, the Bengals will still have to cut him for him to move on, as is the nature of the contract. Essentially, he is playing a game of chicken with Brown, who does not seem to understand that now that he's lost his quarterback's respect, Palmer already is as good as gone.

Once he is free to sign a contract elsewhere, I don't doubt there will be a great deal of interest in his services.

A number of teams in the league are unstable at quarterback, starting players who are not ready for the pressure of running an offense for an entire regular season with much success (the Seattle Seahawks come to mind as a glaring example).

His retirement serves as a labor negotiation strategy only; his goal in doing so is to leave the Bengals behind, not the NFL.

Someday, Palmer will return to football, but for now, he sits in purgatory, punished for his desire to win.