Yard Sale: NFL QB Available

We would all be a whole lot happier if it were a NFL Owner/GM going into the yard sale. The odds of success for the team would be greatly improved. I’d prefer to take my chances with a sensible everyman landing the plane than the drunken pilot who owns it.

Sadly, that isn’t the case. Carson Palmer has been bengalized. He has come to understand what we fans hate but know is true. He now sees that sustained success under Mike Brown is not possible.

When Bratkowski told the media on his way out last week that he spoke to Carson and that Carson said his trade request had nothing to do with Bob, I was dubious. “He’s just being nice,” I thought. But he has shunned Jay Gruden. He has said nothing  to the media since. His real estate agent said he is never returning to Cincinnati.

For a guy used to winning, going 18-24-1 over the last 3 years and 0-2 in the playoffs has to be tough. He has watched Mike Brown suck the success they had early in his career right out of this team. He knows better than us the dysfunction that runs rampant through the front offices of PBS. He’s had enough. I can’t blame him.

But Mike Brown isn’t the only cause here. I believe the fans booing him when it was announced that he had just thrown over 25,000 yards in his career cut him deeply. That is no small accomplishment, and the fans at the game spit on it. I bet his decision to leave was made shortly after that game.

That isn’t an indictment of the fans, though. That booing was not a classy move, but things would never have gotten to that point between the fans and Carson if Carson carried a more spit-and-vinegar attitude. Instead of towing the company line after losses (“We just need to go back to work and fix it”), fans wanted a PO’ed, ‘losing sucks’ attitude like Boomer had. Remember when Boomer threatened to put a football, uh… where the sun don’t shine… of the next lineman who let him get sacked? That attitude is why fans those who watched both play would pick Boomer over Carson to lead their all-Bengals team.

With Mike Brown asleep at the wheel, the Bengals need badass, refuse-to-lose leaders to compensate. Mike Zimmer has that. I think Marvin has that, although he manages it well when cameras are on. They need a QB like that too. Carson isn’t. It’s time to give him the release he wants.

If any of you still think they Bengals ought to hang on to Carson, check out this quote reported by Kevin Goheen from Jay Gruden about his style offense:

“I’ve seen a lot of West Coast offenses fail because the quarterback doesn’t buy in or for whatever reason and I’ve seen a lot of West Coast offenses flourish because the quarterback really buys in and takes it to another level.”

How can Carson buy into the offense if he has sold out on the team?