Carson Palmer Trade: Raiders Had No Choice but to Give in to King's Ransom

If what ESPN's Adam Schefter and Chris Mortensen are reporting is indeed accurate, then Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer will be headed to the Oakland Raiders.

As soon as Jason Campbell got hurt on Sunday, it was clear that the Raiders needed to do something. The quarterback duo of Kyle Boller and Terrelle Pryor will simply not take the Raiders to the playoffs, even with plenty of talent on the roster.

As is detailed by Schefter and Mortensen, the Raiders are giving up a first-round pick in 2012 and if they win a playoff game this season, a first-round pick in 2011.

That is not a small price to pay for a quarterback who hasn't played an NFL down since last season and who has never won a playoff game.

Let's assume for a second that this trade does indeed go through. If Palmer leads the Raiders to a playoff victory and they lose consecutive first-round draft picks, then it's all worth it. If you have a chance to make the playoffs and certainly win a playoff game, then it's very hard to find a price too steep.

But if the Raiders miss the playoffs, this trade will hurt in a big way. Unlike Aaron Curry, who was traded for late-round, conditional picks, this trade is a huge gamble for the Raiders.

Palmer is interception prone. Despite throwing for nearly 4,000 yards and 26 touchdowns in 2010, he also threw 20 picks. As a matter of fact, he hasn't had a quarterback rating of above 90 since 2006, which was also his last Pro Bowl season.

As for the Bengals, a stubborn Mike Brown now comes off looking like a genius. They are a 4-2 team that is loaded with young talent (Andy Dalton, A.J. Green, just to name a couple) and are all of a sudden looking at two first-round draft picks, possibly for the next two years. 

It's hard to imagine that a better deal than that has come across Brown's desk this season.

But for the Raiders, it's a gamble. There is absolutely no denying that. Palmer will be thrown into a team that needs to win now.

The Raiders play Kansas City on Sunday, then have a bye, then face the Broncos. Even with a cold Palmer, that's a pretty likely 2-0 stretch.

But on November 10, they go into San Diego to take on the first-place Chargers. The new quarterback will need to be completely acclimated by that point.