Reportedly, Oakland has a certain someone in mind for the job, but need to work diligently if they’re going to get him off of his couch and into the Black Hole.
Yahoo! Sports’ Jason Cole, citing a team source, reports that the Raiders were “trying hard” Sunday night to trade for ‘retired’ Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer. The league’s trade deadline is Tuesday afternoon.
Although Cole’s source “highly doubts” Cincy owner Mike Brown would deal Palmer, Raiders coach Hue Jackson “hit the phones quickly” upon learning of Campbell’s prognosis, and could have an edge in landing Palmer considering his prior connections with the Bengals. Jackson was their wide receivers coach from 2004-2006.
The Palmer-Brown standoff was one of the most intriguing storylines earlier in the offseason, with the 31-year-old requesting a trade and threatening to never step foot onto Paul Brown Stadium again if he doesn’t get one. Brown hasn’t budged, even when Palmer supposedly asked again this week to be dealt.
Even if Brown were willing to move Palmer, Oakland might not have the proper ammunition to execute said trade. Cole threw around the idea of the Raiders offering a conditional third-round draft pick in 2013 that could escalate to a second or first-rounder, depending on Palmer’s performance.
However, in all probability, it’s inevitably a moot point. Brown seems entrenched in his stance, and certainly wouldn’t give up his biggest bargaining chip to another contending team in the AFC. At the end of the season, both squads could be battling for a wildcard spot and Palmer would love nothing more than to stick it to Brown.
Stranger things have definitely happened, though, so only the remaining time until the deadline will tell whether or not this comes to fruition. All things considered, the Raider faithful should not hold their breath.
