Marvin Lewis Reiterates: Plan In Place For Life After Carson Palmer

Last month head coach Marvin Lewis freely admitted that if Carson Palmer wants to return, he'd be the starter. Without hesitation or the mind-numbing coaches speak of saying one thing but meaning another. Not Lewis. Personally, I agree with the decision. Who would be more ideal to groom Andy Dalton, provided Palmer returns with one single understanding. Mentor Dalton and we'll find a trade partner for you next season. Alright. So that's a little hopeful piece of candy from heaven, but that would be the conditions I'd force Palmer to abide by. That is if trading him is out of the picture -- which in Cincinnati, it currently is.

During Lewis' interview on ESPN 101 in St. Louis, the Bengals head coach was asked how he feels about Carson Palmer threatening the team to retire because he doesn't want to "take another snap for the ball club."

"Well I don’t take it all. That’s his prerogative, so at this point in his career he decided to retire, so that’s the thing you gotta really feel good about and accept that we know that you are going to have people who are totally committed to competing and playing football in the National Football League or else you’re football team is the first to know that, so you don’t make those decisions. Those decisions don’t come overnight. Those are things that sit in your belly for a long time and they really have a tendency to bother you, so it’s good decision that he made to move on with the rest of his life and we understand that and accept that. We’ve put things together to move forward and we’re excited about it. It’s been a great off-season that way and when we get an opportunity to start working with our players we’ll be fired up and ready to go."