Carson Palmer Is Stuck

Leave it to a Bengal to screw up the timing when he demands a trade.

With the NFL lockout, player movement is prohibited. Free agents are not able to sign with new teams. Trades cannot occur. Should the lockout last through the draft, undrafted free agents will not be able to sign with teams. Nothing is able to be done until a new collective bargaining agreement is reached. As such, Carson Palmer's trade demands are unable to be met, even if the Bengals wanted to. And Cincinnati has stated repeatedly that they will not trade Palmer.

So, where does that leave him? Presently, Palmer is in limbo. He has no idea if he is going to be a Bengal or if they will acquiesce to his demands. In a time where all of the players are dealing with uncertainty in regards to their situations, Palmer is in an even more precarious situation.

Meanwhile, the Bengals are also in an interesting position. With there being no guarantee that the labor dispute will be resolved by the draft on April 28, they have to decide whether or not to draft a quarterback in the first round. As it stands, the Bengals need a quarterback to develop even if Carson Palmer is still on the roster. Presently, their backups are Jordan Palmer and Dan LeFevour - not exactly a group that provides any confidence should they be called upon. On top of this, the Bengals history in drafting quarterbacks is terrible. Over the past 20 years, they have drafted Donald Hollis, David Klinger, Akili Smith, Scott Covington, Palmer, Reggie McNeal, and Jeff Rowe. Yikes.

Palmer has stated on multiple occasions that he plans on retiring should he not be traded. If the labor situation is not resolved by the draft, it will be interesting to see how the Bengals handle it. Even should they call him out on his threats, they still need to draft a quarterback for the future. And watching that should be interesting.