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Bengals trade Palmer
After insisting that he would not trade quarterback under any
circumstances, even after Palmer threatened to retire rather than play
for the his team, Cincinnati Bengals owner Mike Brown was finally ready
to bend on that issue at the 11th hour. According to a Tuesday report
by Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer, Brown had been talking with the Oakland
Raiders about a trade that would send Palmer to the Raiders for a
first-round draft pick in 2012 and a conditional first-round pick in
2013. If the Raiders make the playoffs in 2011, the Bengals will get a
first-rounder in 2013; it will be a second-round pick if they don’t.
The trade was confirmed by ESPN’s Chris Mortensen, and it will happen
just before the 1:00 PM PT trade deadline. According to Peter King of
Sports Illustrated, Palmer is in the Bay Area getting the physical that
will seal the deal.
On Tuesday morning, Shutdown Corner spoke with Travelle Gaines of
Athletes Performance in Carson, Calif., where Palmer has been working
out for months. As it turns out, Gaines — who also works with the
Raiders in an advisory capacity — was the man the Raiders leaned on to
find out what kind of football shape Palmer was in. “He looks great —
he’s been throwing every day, and working with Ken O’Brien, the
quarterbacks coach,” Gaines said. “He’s been throwing to his good buddy
T.J. Houshmandzadeh working with Terrell Owens and Hank Baskett. He
looks great. I think he’ll be ready to go and step right in for the
Raiders. He and Coach Jackson have worked together in the past, and
they have a great relationship.”
Gaines has built up one of the more impressive NFL clienteles as a
conditioning coach over the years, and the Raiders asked him to join
their staff to play a similar role in the 2011 offseason. That paid
dividends when the team starting doing due diligence on Palmer’s
ability … and availability. “Coach Jackson leaned on me heavily through
this process, and they definitely kept tabs on him,” Gaines said of
Palmer.
The deal makes Oakland’s 2012 draft very interesting — not only did
they give up their 2012 third-rounder when they selected Ohio State
quarterback Terrelle Pryor in the 2011 supplemental draft, but they
will also have traded away their first-round, second-round,
fourth-round, and seventh-round picks for 2012 in various other deals.
The second-rounder left in a draft weekend trade with the New England
Patriots, the fourth-rounder was for Jason Campbell, and the
seventh-rounder was for former Seattle Seahawks linebacker Aaron Curry.
Add in the third-rounder sacrificed for Pryor, and the Raiders might as
well go fishing next April.
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