First Carson Palmer Comments Express Excitement over Trade to Raiders

Carson Palmer is excited now—but don't expect things to stay that way for long.

Palmer was traded to the Oakland Raiders yesterday for a first-round pick and a conditional second-round pick, and will once again become a starting QB in the NFL.

The best thing that has happened to him all season was Jason Campbell going down with a shoulder injury. Palmer will once again become a franchise QB and the face of a franchise.

In his first press conference, Palmer was saying all the right things when it comes to football. He was asked how to get his mind back into football after being out of the game for an extended period, and he came back with a strong, confident answer about how he hasn't exactly been away from the game.

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My mind has been in football. It’s been a difficult six weeks. Football is what I know; it’s all I know. It’s what I’ve been doing since I was five, six, seven, eight years old and I’ve followed the game, I’ve worked out, I’ve continued to stay focused on football and keep my mind in football. So, I haven’t been away from the game. I haven’t been playing it for six weeks, comparatively speaking the guys that are on teams, but my mind’s been in it.

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However, the biggest concern that came out of the press conference came when he admitted that he thought he was retired.

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For the past six weeks, I thought I was retired. Before the start of the season, I was training like it was a normal offseason for myself and going about my business like I normally would in the offseason. And then week one hit and I thought, ‘I’ve got to look elsewhere. I’ve got to start to find what the next phase of my life might be.’ Like I said, I got a text late last night and then early this morning saying, ‘This might happen. You need to get on a plane.’ I’m ready to go – I’m excited, I’m honored. I don’t know a lot about this organization, but I know that it’s dedicated to winning. I know the history, I know where this organization has been, and where it wants to get back to and I’m excited to be a part of that.

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He does admit that he is extremely excited to join the Raiders, but in all honesty, he is probably just happy to be back on the football field with a team other than the Cincinnati Bengals.

Who wouldn't be excited if they were in Palmer's shoes?

However, he needs to realize that he is going to have to reach some extremely high expectations in Oakland.

The Raider fans can be ruthless at times, and they know this team has the potential to reach the playoffs this year. They are going to want to win football games, and they are going to want Palmer to perform at an elite level.

That is simply not possible. For starters, Palmer has had a playbook for less than 24 hours, but will be expected to start this weekend. There is no possible way he can pick up on this playbook in just a matter of days or weeks.

Add in the fact that he hasn't been in a football state of mind for the past six weeks, and the Raiders have a bigger problem.

Raiders fans are expecting results, and they are expecting them immediately. The NFL doesn't work that way, and trading for a 32-year-old QB at this point in the season is an extremely questionable move.

Palmer has only had a QB rating of over 100 once in his career, which came all the way back in 2005. He hasn't even topped a 90 passer rating since 2006, and is coming off a season where he turned the ball over a total of 23 times.

While Palmer and Raider Nation are excited right now, they had better calm down—because this season is going to be a rough one.