Why Carson Palmer Trade Should Result in Mass Firings for Oakland Raiders

For the second consecutive week the Oakland Raiders were blown out, losing 46-16 to the Green Bay Packers on Sunday. With the Raiders now sitting at 7-6 and out of the AFC playoff picture for the moment, one has to question the rationale behind the big trade that brought quarterback Carson Palmer to Oakland.

The Raiders have never been a team that shied away from making a big splash, so it wasn't all that surprising that with the team in contention they pulled the trigger on the Palmer deal after losing starting quarterback Jason Campbell in Week 6.

What did raise some eyebrows, however, was the exorbitant price the Raiders paid to acquire Palmer, as the team dealt their first-round pick in next year's draft and a conditional second-round pick that would become a first if Oakland advances to the AFC title game either this year or next, to the Cincinnati Bengals.

Palmer hasn't done much to justify that expense since arriving in the Bay Area, leading the Raiders to a mediocre 3-4 record and throwing an eye-popping 13 interceptions in seven games while posting a quarterback rating of just over 70.

If the last two games are any indication at all, the Raiders will not be advancing to the postseason this year, meaning that they will in essence have given up a top-20 selection in the 2012 draft and second-round choice in 2013 for what amounted to a lateral move at quarterback. Given how Campbell and Palmer have played this year, that won't have gotten the Silver and Black any closer to returning to the postseason for the first time since 2002.

The trade may yet pan out, and the Raiders may circle the wagons and make one last push for the playoffs, but as things stand today the Palmer trade reeks of a panic move made by a team starving to reclaim past glories. Panic moves very rarely work out, and one has to wonder who will be held accountable should this trade end up having a negative impact on the Raiders—not only this season, but in the years to come.