The deal was a bold one for both teams, but it was a steal for the Bengals. Their owner, Mike Brown, had vowed for months that he would let Palmer, a former Heisman Trophy winner who had grown disenchanted with the sometimes dysfunctional team that drafted him first over all in 2003, retire rather than trade him.
After Palmer demanded a trade, Brown maintained that there was a principle at stake, that players should honor the commitment to a team they made by signing a contract, even though those contracts are not guaranteed and teams can cut or trade players on a whim.
Palmer, who has never spoken publicly about the situation, sold his home in the Cincinnati area and had appeared willing to forfeit the $11 million in salary he was due. (His contract with the Bengals went through the 2014 season.) He essentially quit, and even in recent days, the Bengals said that they would not trade him.
Brown’s reputation for stubbornness paid off, allowing him to maintain bargaining leverage. That was enhanced when the rookie quarterback Andy Dalton led the Bengals to a 4-2 start and the Raiders’ starter, Jason Campbell, broke his collarbone Sunday, sending the Raiders scurrying for a new quarterback less than two weeks after the death of Al Davis.
In a statement, Brown referred to Dalton’s emergence as one reason the Bengals were willing to deal Palmer. “We also find ourselves rather suddenly in position of being able to receive real value for Carson that can measurably improve our team — which is performing well and is showing real promise for this year and years to come.”
The Raiders, with the first-year coach Hue Jackson now leading the way on personnel decisions, gave the Bengals their first-round draft pick in 2012 and a conditional draft pick in 2013 that is a second-rounder unless the Raiders win a playoff game, when it would become a first-rounder, according to Fox Sports, which first reported the trade.
“If you know Hue, you don’t get recruited any harder,” Palmer said. “For the past six weeks, I thought I was retired. Before the start of the season, I was training like it was a normal off-season. Week 1 hit, I thought I have got to find what the next phase of my life would be.
“I’m honored,” he added. “I don’t know a lot about this organization, but I know it’s dedicated to winning. I know where this organization has been and where it wants to get back to.”
After so many years of losing, the Raiders showed their players they were not willing to give up on the season. But the Raiders paid a staggering price for the 32-year-old Palmer, whose recent play has not approached his early success.
Palmer is a two-time Pro Bowler, but he missed much of the 2008 season with an elbow injury, and there have been concerns about diminished arm strength and accuracy ever since. During the lockout, many talent evaluators around the league doubted that Palmer would be worth even one first-round pick. Last season, he completed 61.8 percent of his passes for 26 touchdowns and 20 interceptions, matching a career high, as the Bengals sank to 4-12.
But Jackson has a long relationship with Palmer, whom he helped recruit at Southern California and whom he worked with when he was a receivers coach for the Bengals. And the Raiders are flush with speedy receivers who will present Palmer with viable options.
The Raiders’ next three games are against division rivals. After a game against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, in which Kyle Boller will probably start, the Raiders have a bye, which would give Palmer three weeks of practice before starting against the Denver Broncos and then the San Diego Chargers.
Jackson was noncommittal about whether Palmer might play this week.
“Would this have happened if Jason was here?” Jackson said. “Probably not.”
The Raiders believe they can win now. At 4-2 and one game behind the Chargers, they may be right. They better be. The new collective bargaining agreement makes first-round picks economically friendly to teams, and the Raiders have potentially given up their next two. They currently do not have second-, third- and fourth-round picks in 2012. The fourth-rounder was given up for Campbell, who now becomes expendable. He will be a free agent next year.
And if Palmer does not play well, Jackson, who has gained significant influence within the Raiders in the wake of Davis’s death because of the team’s success, figures to lose some of his credibility on a team that will probably hire a general manager after the season.
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