National Football League

Bengals send QB Palmer to Raiders

Published Oct. 18, 2011 8:24 p.m. ET

foxsports

Bengals owner Mike Brown was determined to hold his ground. He had no plans to reward disgruntled quarterback Carson Palmer with a trade.

Then rookie Andy Dalton stepped in and played well for surprising Cincinnati, and Oakland came calling with a blockbuster deal.

That was enough to change Brown's mind, and he dealt Palmer to the Raiders for two high draft picks shortly before the trade deadline on Tuesday.

The Raiders needed a quarterback to replace Jason Campbell, who broke his collarbone in Sunday's win over the Cleveland Browns. Campbell had surgery Monday and was expected to miss at least six weeks, leaving the Raiders with only Kyle Boller and Terrelle Pryor on the roster.

Palmer wanted to leave the Bengals, who have had only two winning records in the past 20 years.

Cincinnati (4-2) will get a 2012 first-round pick and a second-rounder in 2013 for the 31-year-old quarterback.

Brown said the play of Dalton made it easier to trade Palmer.

''We also find ourselves rather suddenly in position of being able to receive real value for Carson that can measurably improve our team, which is performing well and is showing real promise for this year and years to come,'' he said in a statement.

''When this opportunity arose, we felt we could not let it pass and needed to take a step forward with the football team if we could.''

The Detroit Lions (5-1) also made a move before the deadline, acquiring running back Ronnie Brown from the Philadelphia Eagles for running back Jerome Harrison and an undisclosed draft pick in 2013.

Harrison is set for his second stint with the Eagles (2-4). He was first acquired in a 2010 trade with Cleveland and rushed for 239 yards and a touchdown. Brown had only 13 carries for 38 yards with the Eagles. His fumble against San Francisco cost Philadelphia a win.

Raiders coach Hue Jackson's mantra all season has been ''the time is now,'' and he backed that up by dealing for Palmer, who is coming off a 20-interception season last year with the Bengals.

Palmer, who had been working out in Southern California, quickly reported to the Raiders' facility and will immediately start learning the offense. Oakland (4-2) hosts Kansas City on Sunday, then has a bye week.

While Palmer has not played or practiced since last season, he has a history with Jackson, who was his offensive coordinator for two years at Southern California and the wide receivers coach for three seasons in Cincinnati.

Jackson was with the Bengals when Palmer had his best season in 2005, throwing for 3,836 yards and 32 touchdowns with a 101.1 rating while leading the team to the AFC North title. Palmer tore up his left knee during a playoff loss to Pittsburgh that season.

He came back and had two solid seasons before partially tearing a ligament and tendon in his passing elbow during the 2008 season. He has not been an elite quarterback since, despite getting back to the playoffs in 2009.

Over the past two years, Palmer completed 61.2 percent of his passes for 7,064 yards, 47 touchdowns, 33 interceptions and a passer rating of 82.9 while posting a 14-18 record. Those numbers are comparable to what Campbell has done since the start of the 2009 season.

This is the second trade the Raiders have made since the death of longtime owner Al Davis, who also served as general manager and oversaw the entire football operation. Jackson acquired linebacker Aaron Curry, the No. 4 overall pick in 2009, from Seattle last week.

The trade leaves the Raiders with picks only in the fifth and sixth round in next year's draft. They traded their second-rounder during April's draft to New England for the picks to draft offensive lineman Joe Barksdale and running back Taiwan Jones.

They used their third-rounder to take Pryor in the supplemental draft in August. They traded their fourth-rounder in 2010 to get Campbell and the seventh-rounder for Curry.