Keeping Carson Palmer Makes Cincinnati Bengals Owner Mike Brown the Worst in NFL

Sorry, Stephen Ross. No joking here, Jerry Richardson.

If Cincinnati Bengals owner Mike Brown decides to once again spite Carson Palmer by keeping him away from the Oakland Raiders, which he very well might, then he can comfortably claim the mantle as the worst owner in the NFL.

Bold? Perhaps, but not unfounded.

Brown, the son of Hall of Fame coach and franchise founder Paul Brown, has held Palmer hostage for months now, ever since the Bengals quarterback and former No. 1 overall pick requested a trade out of the Queen City.

Palmer has spent the season in de facto retirement, biding his time back at his home in San Diego, waiting for the call that he's been traded while nudging Brown to trade him ever so gently from time to time.

Meanwhile, rookie quarterback Andy Dalton has proven to be more than serviceable under center, leading Marvin Lewis' squad to a surprising 4-2 record through six games, with the two losses coming by a total of seven points. Dalton enjoyed his best performance of his career on Sunday, completing 25 of 32 passes for 264 yards and a touchdown.

Clearly, the Bengals don't need Palmer (or his fat contract) anymore and Palmer doesn't want to be in Cincy. So why, pray tell, is this still an issue?

To put it simply, it's a matter of pride and hard-headedness on Brown's part. Like every NFL owner, particularly those who were born into it (right, Jim Irsay?), Brown has an ego almost as gigantic as his belly and, like some, trips over it all too often.

His ego, I mean.

Brown's stubborn insistence on hanging onto Palmer is only the latest in a long series of follies that led to the sad degradation of this once-proud franchise on Brown's watch.

In the span of two decades, the man has threatened to move the team to get the city of Cincinnati and Hamilton County to spend taxpayer dollars on a new stadium for him; created a culture of negativity around the team; refused to cede control of personnel decisions to an actual general manager, all while bringing in a never-ending slew of sad-sack players with questionable character; kept around one of the smallest scouting staffs in all of football; drafted the likes of Akili Smith and David Klingler; and turned off high-profile free agents with his incessant frugality.

Oh, and did I mention that the Bengals have gone 115-206-1 under his stewardship? Or that he can claim the dubious distinction of being the slowest owner in NFL history to 100 wins and the fastest to 200 losses?

Frankly, nobody should be surprised by how he's handled the Carson Palmer saga. Marvin Lewis has long won in spite of Brown's endless array of horrible decisions and will likely have to continue to do so, assuming the Raiders can't find some way to move Brown off his ridiculous line in the sand.