Earlier today, Bengals owner Mike Brown stated once again during a conversation with NFL.com's Albert Breer that he will not be trading Carson Palmer, thus confirming to all Cincinnati Bengals fans that the word definitely did not end on Saturday. This planet, and especially the operations of the Cincinnati Bengals, is business as normal (you know, except for the lockout thing).
Since thinking logically is a process of drawing conclusions based on a clear line of evidence, a person that is thinking logically could assume that Brown wants Carson Palmer back because he's uncomfortable starting a rookie quarterback for the first time since he took over the team.
However, logic has never really prevailed when it comes to football in this part of the world, at least it hasn't for the last 20 years. I say that because it seems that Brown is indeed comfortable with starting Dalton based on what he said about his young quarterback in the same interview with Breer.
He's very football intelligent, he's been with our coaches, and Jay Gruden, our coordinator," Brown said. "Jay had a very good feeling about his football abilities, his abilities to understand the defenses and how to go about things. He'd been productive at the college level, and we think he has a good shot at it here."
If Brown is comfortable with Dalton taking the reins of the Bengals offense in 2011 and he thinks he has a good shot of being productive in Cincinnati, then why would he be so dead set on not trading Palmer? If it's because he wants a veteran quarterback on the roster, there's plenty of them that will be available via free agency, many of whom would actually be much cheaper to sign to a one or two-year deal rather than keeping Palmer for the next four years for $50 million.
In reality, the only reason that I think Brown isn't willing to deal Palmer is that he's more stubborn than the worlds most stubborn mule. He doesn't want to deal Palmer because it's just something that he doesn't want to do. Brown didn't open the door for Chad Ochocinco when he made his trade demands and he won't do it for Palmer either. Allowing Palmer to leave when he wants, in Brown's mind, could open the door for future players to force their way off the team.
So, even though we'll be watching a new quarterback lead the Bengals' offense down the field in 2011, we'll also know that the Bengals could have gotten something more by trading Palmer. At least we'll be able to watch the beginning of a new era of Bengals football. Hopefully this one is better than the last ones.