Carson Palmer: Why Oakland Raiders Will Win AFC West Crown

The Oakland Raiders made headlines trading what could end up being two first-round picks for the services of ex-Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer. We have seen it before, plenty of times in fact, that quarterbacks of Palmer's caliber have tremendous resurgence with their new teams.

Originally the quarterbacks I had in mind were guys like Joe Namath, Archie Manning, Ken Stabler and even the great Johnny Unitas. But players like Namath and Unitas had one foot on a banana peel and the other in the grave when it came to the pulse on the football life they had left in their bodies. They were beaten down by the game, which begs the question, is Palmer stranding on the banana peel too?

No, in fact—and if history has taught us anything, it is very likely Palmer plays some of the best football of his career in Oakland. 

Boomer Esiason and Jim Everett

Palmer falls into the line of other great quarterbacks having some success after their first moves to another team following a long hiatus with one organization.

One player Palmer's career might relate to relatively well is another former Cincinnati Bengal, Boomer Esiason. Esiason played nine years in Cincinnati; his last with the Bengals he threw for 1,407 yards, missing four games and having a QB rating of 57.0. Esiason's first season in New York, he threw for 3,421 yards and increased his QB rating 32.5 percent to 84.5.

Jim Everett spent eight years in L.A. with the Rams before heading to New Orleans. Everett’s last two seasons played in L.A. saw his numbers dip to 4,975 yards and 30 touchdowns. Upon arriving in New Orleans, he threw for 7,825 and tossed 48 touchdowns his first two seasons in New Orleans.

Rich Gannon and Drew Bledsoe

Or take a player like Rich Gannon, who bounced around the NFL for 11 years before finding his niche in Oakland.

Under Jon Gruden, Gannon established himself as one of the finer quarterbacks in the league over a four-year span, throwing for 15,787 yards with 107 touchdowns. Compare those to the San Diego Chargers' Philip Rivers, who over the last four seasons has passed for 16,125 yards and 113 touchdowns.

Pretty solid company Gannon put himself in. He also posted those numbers entering his 12th NFL season. (Never too old to learn, I guess.)

Or how the about the former Washington State product Drew Bledsoe, who played nine years in New England and missed 14 games his last year with the Patriots prior to his trade to Buffalo.

Bledsoe's first season in Buffalo resulted in his second-best yardage season of 4,359 with 24 touchdowns. His last two years combined in New England, Bledsoe threw for 3,691 yards in 18 total games—two more games, yet 668 yards less than his first season in Buffalo. 

Joe Montana and Warren Moon

Joe Montana didn’t put up any numbers that exceeded his phenomenal career numbers in San Francisco, but after 13 years in San Francisco, Montana did lead the Chiefs to back-to-back playoff appearances and lost in the 1993 AFC Championship Game to the Bills—one game away from the Super Bowl.

Warren Moon played 22 professional seasons, five of those with the Edmonton Eskimos before entering the NFL for 17 seasons.

Before moving on to Minnesota after 10 seasons in Houston, Moon threw for 3,485 yards and had a QB rating of 75.2. His first season with the Vikings, Moon threw for 4,264 yards and increased his QB rating to 79.9—one percent off his career passer rating of 80.0.

Entering his 14th, season Moon switched teams and headed to Seattle. His last season in Minnesota, Moon played only eight games while tossing only seven touchdowns and had a QB rating of 68.7—the third-lowest of his 17 NFL seasons. In 1997,—his first season in Seattle and 14th overall—Moon threw 25 touchdowns and posted an 83.7 passer rating for a nearly 18 percent increase. 

Brett Favre

One last name to mention is Brett Favre, who dropped in production with his move from Green Bay to New York, but his numbers spiked up after leaving the Jets and moving on to Minnesota.

In Favre's first season with the Vikings, he threw 33 touchdown passes in his 18th season, tying the fourth-highest touchdown total in Favre's 19-year career. The 4,202 passing yards from that season also marked Favre's third-best total ever in that category.

While on the surface these players did produce in their first seasons with their new football teams, those numbers fell pretty dramatically after that, so buyer beware. The decline could be due in part to these players being at the tail-end of successful careers or because the next up-and-coming quarterback was waiting in the wings. 

The numbers show there is some truth to the matter that after a long a career with one team these quarterbacks show significant improvement. Jim McMahon, Jay Schroeder and Wade Wilson are notable quarterbacks who where with three different teams in three different seasons. This trio’s numbers improved with new uniforms on their backs.

Can Carson Palmer Do It with Young Offensive Weapons?

Back to Carson Palmer, who has a bit of a different story, being traded midseason and not having the full offseason to participate and learn the terminology of the Raiders' offense.

Palmer threw for 3,970 yards and 26 touchdowns only one season ago with aged veterans and unproven youngsters. The offensive pieces are in place in Oakland, with young guns like Darrius Heyward-Bey, Jacoby Ford and Denarius Moore providing plenty of offensive options at the receiver position to help Palmer along. Palmer did in fact struggle in his first game with the Raiders, but the optimistic view of what he can accomplish long-term should be factored into play as his career moves forward with the Silver and Black.