Carson Palmer Trade: Raiders Take Step Backward with Trade for Bengals QB

With Jason Campbell expected to be out for several weeks with a broken collarbone, the Oakland Raiders turned to the trade market on Tuesday, trading for disgruntled Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer.

In the trade, the Raiders reportedly sent a 2012 first-round pick and 2013 conditional pick to the Bengals. The conditional pick will reportedly be a first-rounder if the Raiders win one or more playoff games this season. Otherwise, the Bengals will receive a second-round pick in 2013.

Now, I don't blame the Raiders for going after Palmer, given Kyle Boller just wasn't going to cut it, but what they gave up for Palmer is preposterous.

Palmer is a quarterback whose career has been marred with inconsistency. The former No. 1 overall pick out of USC had a successful first three seasons in the NFL. Then he began throwing interceptions. In two of his last four seasons, he threw 20 interceptions. Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler has proven throughout the years that your success is limited if you keep coughing up the ball, no matter who many touchdowns you throw.

Bill Williamson of ESPN noted on The Gary Radnich Show on Sunday that the Bengals could have gotten Denver Broncos quarterback Kyle Orton for a mid-round pick. That, to me, makes a lot of sense. It wasn't like Campbell was a great quarterback. Orton would have been a nice replacement for little risk.

Now it appears the Raiders are going all-or-nothing on a team that frankly isn't a Super Bowl team yet. They risk two huge draft picks for a quarterback who is rusty and coming off a 20-interception season. I just don't get it.

Given Palmer's former success, I can see why Raiders fans may be happy about this move, hoping to catch lightning in a bottle.

But the only lightning that will strike this team is when they look at the 2012 and 2013 NFL draft boards and realize they can't draft a future star.