NFL Trade News: Quarterback Carson Palmer Being Shipped to Oakland Raiders

NFL fans we may have a Carson Palmer sighting. Carson Palmer, remember him? No. 1 overall pick in the 2003 NFL draft. Former starting quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals. I say "former" because of two things. 

One, until this season, Palmer had been the starter in Cincy since 2004. He had a number of solid seasons but also some injuries. He had some bad luck and bad postseason performances as well.

Then, following last season's terrible 4-12 record, he decided he no longer wanted to play in Cincinnati. That didn't sit well with owner Mike Brown, who has Palmer under contract through 2014. Palmer demanded a trade and said he'd rather sit out than play for the Bengals and Brown called his bluff and declined to grant him the trade, opting instead to start Andy Dalton at quarterback and make Palmer watch NFL football on Sundays instead of playing it in another city for another team.

Until today. 

That's because according to reports from Jay Glazer of Fox Sports, Palmer is going to Oakland to step in and fill the void left when Jason Campbell was lost for possibly the remainder of the season with a broken collarbone suffered this past Sunday. In return, the Bengals will receive Oakland's first-round draft pick in the 2012 draft, as well as a conditional future second-round pick that could be a first-rounder depending on Palmer's production in Oakland.

The trade comes as somewhat of a surprise considering that Brown had held very much true to his word that Palmer would either play for Cincinnati this season or not at all. But Brown has a long-time relationship with Oakland Head Coach Hue Jackson, who served as Bengals' receivers coach from 2004-2006, and obviously didn't burn any bridges in Cincinnati when he left.

This becomes is a good deal for both teams. While Oakland must part with potentially two first-round picks for Palmer's services, they can also salvage what was looking like a possible playoff season before Campbell's injury.

Oakland is 4-2 and playing in a division with only one other possible playoff team in San Diego. Adding Palmer to the mix may at some point create a quarterback surplus, because Campbell will get healthy; but at that point Oakland will have some serious trade bait to either recoup some of the draft picks they shipped off in this deal or acquire another solid NFL player at a different position.

For Cincinnati, this trade makes sense because Dalton may end up being a solid quarterback and the added draft picks will allow Cincinnati to strengthen their defense or add another player or two at the skill positions.

It's a deal no one would have predicted 48 hours ago, but it's looking like it's close to being completed.