Carson Palmer to Raiders: Grading the Trade of Bengals QB to Oakland

With Carson Palmer officially traded from the Cincinnati Bengals to the Oakland Raiders, it’s now time to break down the deal and grade the transaction for both sides.

Adam Schefter is reporting via Twitter that the Bengals traded Palmer for a first-round pick in the 2012 draft and a conditional first-rounder in the 2013 draft.

Now, let’s see how both sides made out.

Oakland Raiders

The Raiders lost Jason Campbell for the season, but they are 4-2 on the year, barely trailing the 4-1 San Diego Chargers in the AFC West.

If Palmer pans out for them this season and leads them to the playoffs for the first time since 2002, the Raiders made out with a great trade.

If he doesn’t perform up to expectations, the Raiders have wasted two picks in consecutive drafts that they easily could have used on a franchise quarterback.

The Raiders are also going to have to pay Palmer’s rather large salary (which he is willing to restructure, according to sources), and he is on the books until 2014 because of an extension signed in December of 2005.

This is the definition of a high-risk, high-reward trade that is going to have an immediate and lasting effect on the team.

Grade: B- with the potential to be an A

Cincinnati Bengals

The Bengals got the best end of this deal, without a doubt.

Owner Mike Brown was content with letting Carson Palmer rot in retirement and not having to pay his exorbitantly large contract.

Andy Dalton has been a revelation for the franchise and already has the same amount of wins (four) in six games than Palmer did all of last season.

Now the team has at least one, potentially two more first-round draft picks in the next two seasons that they could use to continue building around Dalton.

That is a ton of value for a guy who was sitting on his couch watching football on Sunday.

Grade: A