Cincinnati Bengals: Will Carson Palmer Try and Force a Trade in Coming Weeks?

On Thursday night, Andy Dalton turned in a performance that breathed life into a Bengals offense struggling to get off the start line. While expectations remain in check, Thursday night gave Bengals fans a reason to give Dalton the benefit of the doubt as the team's starting quarterback.

So, with only the Indianapolis Colts standing between the Bengals and the regular-season opener in Cleveland on September 11th, is it time for Carson Palmer to play his last trump card in the battle with Owner Mike Brown? 

While developments in the Carson Palmer saga have been few and far between, it has been widely suggested that Carson Palmer could return at the beginning of the season in order to try and force a trade. It would be a last-chance saloon for Palmer in terms of gaining leverage and could have varying outcomes. 

If Carson returns, Mike Brown will have to pay him, the idea being that the notoriously tightfisted Mike Brown will not want to pay Palmer to sit on the bench—which would therefore lead to a trade. There is the possibility that if Palmer tried this strategy, Mike Brown would force him to start. With a new system in place and progress finally being made, this could well be a nightmare scenario both on field and in the locker room.

Picture this if you will: a disgruntled Palmer fails in his attempt to force a trade. He is then forced to start for a team he doesn't want to be on and one whose system he doesn't know. It wouldn't be pretty, at least not right away. Palmer would also have to win back the faith of a team and a city that he walked away from back in January.

The question, then, is will Carson take this course of action? If you're one of the many who believes Palmer isn't ready to hang up his cleats and walk away from the game, it seems highly likely.

If Palmer was to retire and then, after time away, decided to return, he would still be forced to honor his contract with Cincinnati. Having effectively been frozen, his contract would continue from where he left off—unless, of course, the Bengals decided to release or trade him at that juncture.

With every successful pass Dalton completes, Bengals fans' desire to see Palmer return grows smaller and smaller. It's a real conundrum, and I'm sure Marvin Lewis and Jay Gruden are dreading the potential return of Carson Palmer in light of the team's recent improvement.

While the Palmer/Brown battle has been relatively slow and uneventful, a return to Cincinnati would cause a monumental headache for Brown and the team's coaching staff, at a time when the media fanfare would be least welcome.

Keep your eyes peeled for how things progress from here. While Palmer could well sail off into the sunset, grow his beard out and take up gardening, he still has one card left to play, and if he's going to play it, it could come soon.

*Update* Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com is reporting that the Jordan Palmer has been released. Whether this will have any impact on Carson's next move (if he makes one) is worth considering.