Let me paint a picture: a quarterback in a situation where retirement or a trade seems the only option left for him. As a Green Bay Packers fan of 20-plus years, I know something about QB drama, and when I heard the Cincinnati Bengals quarterback threatening to retire if not traded, I rolled my eyes and chuckled a little.After a season Bengals fans would seriously like to forget, Palmer had 26 touchdowns and 20 interceptions with 3970 yards. Not bad stats, and clearly not the weakest link in the 2010 Cincinnati Bengals. The question now arises, what’s to become of number nine in orange and black?
If he gets his wish to be traded, where could he go? How about the Seattle Seahawks, where Palmer’s former college head coach, Pete Carroll, is now the play caller? Or the 49ers in San Francisco, where his wife is from?
The odds are that the Bengals would try to get him as far from them as they could and send him to an NFC West team. Coach Carroll would love to have a familiar face at the QB position, but I think the 49ers would try a little harder because they have no idea what to do with their team. San Francisco was supposed to be a contender in the NFC West this season, but only managed a 6-10 record, using three different quarterbacks, and they just got themselves a new head coach in Jim Harbaugh. A team looking to make a run in the playoffs next season with a new coach and a veteran QB could be very dangerous.
My prediction: look to the draft Bengals fans.