Week In Review: King Believes Carson Palmer Stays, Debating Alternatives Between Kevin Kolb And Kyle Orton

As Jason pointed out earlier this week, Peter King thinks he thinks (that's not a typo) that Carson Palmer will remain with the Cincinnati Bengals in 2011. Why? Two reasons. One, Jay Gruden's new offense will convince Palmer that he be "great" and Marvin Lewis will make sure that neither Terrell Owens or Chad Ochocinco are on the team.

What King says, does make sense. For one, Bob Bratkowski's offense often had routes that took time to develop. With Gruden's West Coast style, Palmer will have the football out of his hands, hitting receivers much earlier in the routes. This isn't a knock on Palmer. In Bratkowski's system, by the time the routes were ready for the reception, he was under fire from a pass rush that already struggled keeping him from taking hits (and we're not just talking about quarterback sacks). For two, when Palmer had Jerome Simpson and Andre Caldwell to work with, instead of Owens and Ochocinco, the quarterback actually looked like he was having fun again.

That being said, even if he doesn't start the season with the Bengals, there could be options. You could trade for Kevin Kolb. Or, as former Bengals defensive lineman John Thornton told CincyJungle, you could get Kyle Orton. Aside from the fact that Kolb would cost the Bengals at least a first round pick, Orton has the most experience. Though at the same time, you're debating between the potential of making Kolb your franchise quarterback and Orton being a stop-gap solution until you find someone to Palmer as the franchise quarterback.

With all of the Collective Bargaining Agreement issues aside that would prevent trades and signing free agents, Kyle Orton could be much easier (and cheaper to attain). And based on the uncertain future of Denver, Orton could be on his way out because of Tim Tebow. When asked about his future in Denver, Orton said:

"Don't know, to be honest with you," Orton said about his future with the team. "Everybody can make choices. I'm happy. I've been playing as good as I ever have."

Orton has averaged 3,728 yards passing per season over the past two years with Denver and a passer rating of 86.8 and 87.5 respectively.