Brown says Palmer is retiring

Cincinnati Bengals owner and president and general manager and whatever else you want to call him has said publicly the whole time that he is not trading Carson Palmer. Carson Palmer has said the whole time that he’ll retire before wearing a Bengals jersey again.

Something has to give, right? The team won’t just let its star QB walk away from the game while he can still play, will they?

Yep.

“I’m not expecting [Carson Palmer] to be back. Carson signed a contract, he made a commitment. He gave us his word. We relied on his word and his commitment. We expected him to perform here. If he is going to walk away from his commitment we aren’t going to reward him for doing it,” Brown said.

Photo Caption: Palmer throws and completes a pass for 23 principles and a first down.

So Palmer ain’t getting traded. Maybe Brown will change his tune come 2012 when he can get the same draft picks then as he would now. Well, sort of. They’d have to be lower considering the guy sat out an entire year. But if he did that, he’d at least get the satisfaction of knowing he didn’t cave to Palmer’s demands.

And that’s what football is all about: Principles. Football is not about winning and losing, or winning multiple championships, or fielding a competitive team that doesn’t embarrass itself on a yearly basis, or having a team that’s not an off-field disgrace to the community….it’s about principles.

And Mike Brown is the people’s champ of principles. Principles line the shelves of his office. They are displayed proudly for all to see. When you walk into Mike Brown’s office, you might not see any Lombardi Trophies or rings…but you’ll see principles.

And Bengals fans can take that to the bank!