NFL Trade Deadline: Why Carson Palmer to Raiders Changes AFC Landscape

Through the first six games of the season, the Oakland Raiders were something of a surprise with a 4-2 record, good enough for second place in the AFC West behind 4-1 San Diego.

The expected addition via trade of Carson Palmer to the Raiders shakes things up in the west considerably.

The Raiders haven’t had a winning season since 2002, but this deal looks to be one that could bring that streak to an end.

Palmer is an experienced quarterback for a team that hasn’t had anything resembling star caliber performers for years. Palmer has two 4,000-yard seasons, and while those were back in 2006 and 2007, he threw for 3,970 last year.

He clearly still has some game at 32.

Jason Campbell suffered a broken collarbone on Sunday against Cleveland, according to the LA Times. This has forced the Raiders into the deal with the Bengals at the cost of a first-round draft pick.

Campbell was 7-5 in his starts with Oakland last year and he has them in contention now. But he doesn’t have the experience of Palmer, who had 11 and 10-win seasons with the Bengals.

The Raiders were already a threat in the west, so the addition of Palmer could push them over the top if he’s ready to play. He’s been working out in Southern California, but we have yet to see how that translates on the field.

Most trades subtract talent from the roster pool, but this isn’t one of those.

Palmer hadn’t been working with Cleveland and he wasn’t going to be working with the Bengals any time soon. Owner Mike Brown, despite many assertions that he wasn’t going to deal Palmer, has added a 2012 first-round draft pick at essentially no cost.

Plus, he’s gotten a potential $11.5 million contract liability off the books.

Would the Bengals be better with Palmer at quarterback rather than current starter Andy Dalton?

Probably, at least this year while Dalton learns the ropes.

But Dalton has the club 4-2 and in second place in the AFC North heading into a bye week. While the 2011 second-round draft pick out of TCU could have used a year of apprenticeship under Palmer, he’s thrown for 1,311 yards and has a QB rating of 84.3, so he’s at a minimum holding his own.