Carson Palmer named Bungals starter

[AgPete]

http://www.theredzone.org/news/showarticle.asp?ArticleID=893

So if you're a team in need of a quarterback, do you trade for Jon Kitna? I say no. Kitna had a lot of mediocre years before last season's success and he had the same offense in Cincy that he used in Seattle. You put an average quarterback in the same offense long enough and eventually build some talent around him, he'll put up numbers. I wouldn't give Cincy a high round pick for Kitna but if he was cut, he'd be worth taking a look at.

[AgPete]

dola

Link from official Cincy site.

http://www.bengals.com/press/news.asp?iCurPage=0&news_id=2129

Lewis names Palmer
3/1/2004 - 3-1-04, 11:05 a.m.
BY GEOFF HOBSON
The Carson Palmer era began officially Monday when the Bengals named him the starting quarterback heading into the 2004 off-season workouts.

Head coach Marvin Lewis’ announcement at a Paul Brown Stadium news conference had been speculated ever since the end of Jon Kitna’s career year back on Dec. 28. Kitna’s 26 touchdown passes, which included 20 and just one interception in the Bengals’ eight victories, propelled Cincinnati to its first non-losing season in seven years and gave him the NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award.

But before Kitna unleashed the club’s most accurate passing season in 20 years, the Bengals made Palmer the first overall pick in the 2003 NFL Draft last April. Palmer came into the draft as the Heisman Trophy winner whose dimensions (6-5, 230 pounds), arm (seven 300-yard passing games and 33 touchdown passes as a senior), and leadership (the Trojans averaged 41 points per game in the last eight weeks to earn the Rose Bowl title), combined to make him what many draft experts consider the prototype of an elite pro quarterback.

But Lewis knows his decision is going to stir a season of questions. He is giving the reigns of a team that appears to be on the verge of the playoffs to a guy who didn’t take a single snap as a rookie last season. And, taking them away from a respected team leader coming off the best two-year stretch of his career. Its Palmer’s elite potential vs. Kitna’s no-frills, no-surprises production.

"It's a tough decision for not only what Jon did, but the person he is," Lewis said. "This way, we're going to go forward. I feel like it's the best thing for us to do right now. . .I don't want to get into specifics because of a guy who played his tail off. I was as supportive of him as anyone in this building all through last year and that's not going to change."

Lewis also announced the release of defensive tackle Oliver Gibson, a four-year regular, as well as the decision tender all seven restricted free agents. The big number went to running back Rudi Johnson in a one-year, $1.8 million offer that guarantees the Bengals first- and third-round compensation.

But Lewis had a tough call. Also figuring into the equation not only has to be Palmer’s pedigree and last year’s promising preseason, but also economics. Once the


** Continued from Homepage **

Bengals selected Palmer, they were chained together in the salary cap. His six-year, $40 million deal can max out at $49 million. Over last year and this one, he gets about $14 million in bonus and is scheduled to take home about $18 million in his first three years.
That’s an expensive clipboard holder, but Lewis has insisted since he took the job 13 months ago that the best players and not the richest are going to play. He reiterated the point at last month’s NFL scouting combine when he said he’ll change quarterbacks if that is the reason the Bengals are losing games.

Lewis showed he would stay true to his beliefs last year despite Palmer’s spectacular moments. He flashed his enormous potential in the last preseason with a quite solid 87.8 passer rating.

In his PBS debut, Palmer was seven of seven passing for 97 yards to six different receivers and two touchdowns to lead a 23-10 win.

He also showed the inconsistencies of youth. In the pre-season opener at The Meadowlands against the Jets, he threw two interceptions that got returned for touchdowns. He also threw one of his own to finish 12 of 22 for 140 yards.

[cthomer5000]

They have to do this for the long-term good of the team, but you have to think it really hurst the playoff hopes for this coming year.

[damnMikeBrown]

They released DT Oliver Gibson too. No more news on the Corey front, regardless of what his agent is saying. The new turf company hasn't been selected yet.

I'm wondering, if we didn't have turf meeting the contractual requirements(we didn't), and we have to find another company to replace it, why we aren't getting our $$ back from the first company? The stadium is rife with cronyism and corruption. I'll bet we paid them to reinstall the turf after they messed up the first time.

[RendeR]

I'm glad they made the change, I hope kitna stays on and finishes his career as Palmers backup (the job he should have held in the nfl throughout his career)

letting gibson go was a good choice, he wasn't really cutting the mustard anyway, he was steady and he played with heart, but the man just isn't an outstanding lineman.

I don't much care who puts the turf in as long as we get that new style of turf. that sandbog they've played in for 4 years sucked ass.

As for our playoff hopes in 2004, I tihkn they're right on track with where they were with kitna. I tihnk the biggest problem the bengals will have making a playoff run this year is their schedule. we play both eastern divisions this year, which means the north has arguably the toughest overall schedules in football.

[Cringer]

Sure, Kitna should get another shot to start somewhere. Unless Arizona is that confident in Arizona, i think Kitna would be a good fit there. Dennis Green has never really cared who his QB was anyways.


EDIT: Unless Arizona is that confident in McCown

[RendeR]

Kitna has already said he's willing to renegotiate his contract, even to add an extension. I think we'd be stupid to let such a quality backup leave the team. especially if we can make his contract cap-friendly.

[korme]

Fuck.

[SteelerFan448]

Dumb move. The guy can blow chunks in training camp and preseason but still could be the starter because of this. Say the two guys are gonna battle it out, don't name your backup the starter. This decision should have waited.

[Butter]

Unless Arizona is that confident in Arizona,

Would you start a QB named "Nathan Huffhines"?

[rkmsuf]

Is this an ownership or Lewis thing? If it's Lewis then he's a bush league coach and there was a reason he had to wait so long for a head job.

If it's ownership then I could rationalize it since they blow anyway...

[miami_fan]

Dumb move. The guy can blow chunks in training camp and preseason but still could be the starter because of this. Say the two guys are gonna battle it out, don't name your backup the starter. This decision should have waited.

What he said

[RendeR]

How is this a bad move? even if he flops, kitna could be there to jump in and save the day making his life all the merrier. This team has to move to Palmer, why wait? there is no good reason to.


as for this being a bad choice of times, why the hell is it bad now? its the same choice, it gives the players involved a base to relax into and be ready to come to mini camp.

What NFL do you guys watch to get such rediculous ideas?

[rkmsuf]

How is this a bad move? even if he flops, kitna could be there to jump in and save the day making his life all the merrier. This team has to move to Palmer, why wait? there is no good reason to.


as for this being a bad choice of times, why the hell is it bad now? its the same choice, it gives the players involved a base to relax into and be ready to come to mini camp.

What NFL do you guys watch to get such rediculous ideas?

Come on. Everyone is talking about the rebirth of the Bengals and the guy that has lead them gets the rug yanked. Bush league.

There's no reason to say anything at all. It's a bush league move from a bush league franchise. If they really believe Palmer was the guy they'd just trade Kitna. Now how can they do that when he's a lame duck?

[AgPete]

I don't think it's a bad move either.

#1 - I don't care if Brett Favre was the starter last year, when you draft a quarterback #1 overall, he will eventually have to start. It's caponomics, these guys don't get $15-$20 million signing bonuses to be professional bench warmers. Palmer was treated better than most college QBs because he was given a year to watch and learn. Jon Kitna saw the writing on the wall and knew last year was probably his last shot to start in Cincy.

#2 - And about Jon Kitna. Sure he had a good year but his offensive coordinator also worked with the Seattle offense. He's been in a similar system for almost seven years now. You put any quarterback with a cool head on his shoulders in that situation and add some talent such as the Chad Johnsons of the world -- then you will eventually see some form of success. Even Kordell Stewart was once an MVP candidate. And it's not as if Kitna led his team to the Playoffs. He had a minor collapse at the end of the year and his team didn't make it. It was a great turnaround but all I'm saying is that Carson Palmer could probably do the exact same thing if he was in Kitna's shoes.

[miami_fan]

I don't think it's a bad move either.

#1 - I don't care if Brett Favre was the starter last year, when you draft a quarterback #1 overall, he will eventually have to start. It's caponomics, these guys don't get $15-$20 million signing bonuses to be professional bench warmers. Palmer was treated better than most college QBs because he was given a year to watch and learn. Jon Kitna saw the writing on the wall and knew last year was probably his last shot to start in Cincy.

#2 - And about Jon Kitna. Sure he had a good year but his offensive coordinator also worked with the Seattle offense. He's been in a similar system for almost seven years now. You put any quarterback with a cool head on his shoulders in that situation and add some talent such as the Chad Johnsons of the world -- then you will eventually see some form of success. Even Kordell Stewart was once an MVP candidate. And it's not as if Kitna led his team to the Playoffs. He had a minor collapse at the end of the year and his team didn't make it. It was a great turnaround but all I'm saying is that Carson Palmer could probably do the exact same thing if he was in Kitna's shoes.

Palmer has not done anything to EARN getting the starting job on March 1st. If you are going to base it on the fact that he is making so much money then he should have started last year.

[RendeR]

Come on. Everyone is talking about the rebirth of the Bengals and the guy that has lead them gets the rug yanked. Bush league.

There's no reason to say anything at all. It's a bush league move from a bush league franchise. If they really believe Palmer was the guy they'd just trade Kitna. Now how can they do that when he's a lame duck?


make a point, your opinion that its "busch league" isn't really supported here. Kitna has NEVER been a top line QB so having the rug yanked isn't a big thing. Kitna shouldn't be traded, period because his best job right now is to be a backup, which he'll be anywhere he goes if they should for some reason trade him.

insult the franchise all you want, they are making every decision the way it has to be made for the team to grow and prosper.

Put palmer in first thing last year and the results would more than likely been exactly the same. Its his time now, period. its a good move for the franchise , period.

If you really believe its a bad move, support it with some valid arguments.

[RendeR]

Palmer has not done anything to EARN getting the starting job on March 1st. If you are going to base it on the fact that he is making so much money then he should have started last year.


*I* base it on the fact that he was a rookie, in a new system with new people last year. he wasn't ready to BE the starter last season. he has a year in the system now and will get the full practice and camp time to be ready come opening day.

its the right choice.

[AgPete]

Palmer has not done anything to EARN getting the starting job on March 1st. If you are going to base it on the fact that he is making so much money then he should have started last year.

Yes he did. The coaches saw him play in the preseason last year. His physical skills are not in doubt, it's just learning a new offense and adjusting to the speed of the NFL. Give Lewis credit as a good coach. Most coaches would have thrown their #1 overall draft pick to the wolves. Maybe Lewis wanted a change in attitude and knew Kitna gave him the best shot for a .500 season. Palmer turns 25 during this upcoming season, I think it's time to see what he has. Sucks for Kitna and in any other situation I'd say let them compete for the job but I think the situation changes when you're talking about the #1 overall pick.

[rkmsuf]

Lewis sucks donkey balls. Last year was the perfect opportunity to get the kid experience. Now on the cusp of the playoffs if the kid struggles the ever Bengal faithful will be livid.

Given the situation you let Kitna ride it out and if the kid wants to play he wows them in camp...

[hukarez]

the NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award.I wonder if this could be a stat in FOF2K4...

EDIT: Er...'award'.

[RendeR]

Lewis sucks donkey balls. Last year was the perfect opportunity to get the kid experience. Now on the cusp of the playoffs if the kid struggles the ever Bengal faithful will be livid.

Given the situation you let Kitna ride it out and if the kid wants to play he wows them in camp...

^
||
this is rediculous,

A) going into the season NOONE including most of the bengals were expecting to make a playoff run.

B) throwing a rookie Qb onto the field has proven a VAST majority of times to be a real screw up. one has only to look at previous bengals draft choices to see that as well as many many other teams. yes there have been some who handled it well enough, manning was one, but its a safer bet to let him ride the pine for one season behind a consistant starter then hand him the keys the next year.

C) no matter how well kitna played last year, and I applauded him as much as anyone, he's NOT a franchise QB, he's not the go to guy, and he does tend to throw the most damaging passes at the worst times. palmer with a year of experience in the system is as good coming into this season as kitna was going into last year. his strength and physical ability will help him compensate for a lack of in game experience.

If you don't like lewis, fine, say so, if you wish kitna was a starter for your team, fine, say so. but to spout off that this is a terrible decision simply isn't based in reality.

[miami_fan]

dola

** Continued from Homepage **

Bengals selected Palmer, they were chained together in the salary cap. His six-year, $40 million deal can max out at $49 million. Over last year and this one, he gets about $14 million in bonus and is scheduled to take home about $18 million in his first three years.
That’s an expensive clipboard holder, but Lewis has insisted since he took the job 13 months ago that the best players and not the richest are going to play. He reiterated the point at last month’s NFL scouting combine when he said he’ll change quarterbacks if that is the reason the Bengals are losing games.
.

Obviously something has happened that made Palmer the best QB on the team. And was Kitna the reason the Bengals were losing games?

[RendeR]

Obviously something has happened that made Palmer the best QB on the team. And was Kitna the reason the Bengals were losing games?

Obviously: yes something has happened, he's got a full year of pro level experience under his belt and the same amount of time using the bengals offense.

in 5 of the 8 losses? yes. key turnovers and/or bad play by kitna contributed immensly to those losses.

[damnMikeBrown]

I actually was listening to the press conference.

Lewis went out of his way to stress that this means the Palmer has the ball first, that's it. He's being given a chance, he's not being given the team yet. If he flops in the off-season drills & training camp, I'd bet very large sums that I'd have to borrow from guys named Vinnie, that he'd be demoted for more seasoning. Lewis stressed this, that it only meant Carson was getting the ball first.

[The_herd]

There's no way this could possibly be seen as a bad move. They drafted the kid #1 overall last year. Leaving him on the bench for 2 seasons would be stupid, plain and simple. Now they can give him the job and see if he can hold onto it, if not, then they can fall back on Kitna this season. If Kitna fails, then Palmer gets another shot, if Kitna keeps the job, the Bengals bring in a backup next year that can push Palmer, but doesn't really have a reasonable shot at beating him out.

The Bengals aren't playing for this season, they are looking into the future here. Palmer sitting again is a waste of development time. Why does he need to win the job if Lewis thinks he's the better QB and needs the experience?

[AgPete]

There's no way this could possibly be seen as a bad move. They drafted the kid #1 overall last year. Leaving him on the bench for 2 seasons would be stupid, plain and simple. Now they can give him the job and see if he can hold onto it, if not, then they can fall back on Kitna this season. If Kitna fails, then Palmer gets another shot, if Kitna keeps the job, the Bengals bring in a backup next year that can push Palmer, but doesn't really have a reasonable shot at beating him out.

The Bengals aren't playing for this season, they are looking into the future here. Palmer sitting again is a waste of development time. Why does he need to win the job if Lewis thinks he's the better QB and needs the experience?

I thought the Skins were stupid for giving up on Ramsey after only two years (in which he only had about 16 games), and he was drafted last in the first round. If the Bengals ignored the number one 1st round pick after a year on the bench, I'd definitely think something is wrong.

[mgadfly]

I actually was listening to the press conference.

Lewis went out of his way to stress that this means the Palmer has the ball first, that's it. He's being given a chance, he's not being given the team yet. If he flops in the off-season drills & training camp, I'd bet very large sums that I'd have to borrow from guys named Vinnie, that he'd be demoted for more seasoning. Lewis stressed this, that it only meant Carson was getting the ball first.

This makes more sense. Some of these pro-bengal posts above fail to understand that what appeared to be bush league is the TIMING of the move. What if Palmer tears an ACL playing pick-up basketball tomorrow? Now you have no franchise quarterback and an okay quarterback who was just told that the decision was made before a single drill was ran in training camp. A lot of athletes like to think it is their performance that influences the decision of who gets to play, and it might have been better to say "whoever earns it in camp will be our starter."

From this last post it sounds like the comment was more in the direction that Palmer is getting first shot, which is still not how I would want to be treated, were I Kitna, but better than what was posted above.

[rkmsuf]

Who names a starter in March? Perhaps the decision is fine since he's getting the dough but what does Palmer need some kind of stroking or something? He has to show up in camp with these assurances of getting the ball first?

Bad teams do stuff like this. Let him show up in camp and earn the job and let the best players play. Even if as an organization you'd determined he'll be the guy why say anything?

[RendeR]

in deference to the two previous posts I'll make this one as simple as possible, small words and all that....


They named him now so that the team understands he is the man going into everything, mini camps, training camp and all the workouts in between. It gives the team all this time to come together around him as the new central figure.

Kitna knew this was coming, its not a shock and its not treating him badly, he knew his days were numbered as soon as they drafted palmer, end of story.

Its "busch league" to keep players guessing until the last minute as to who their team will be following, which is what this team has done for the last 15 years.

What was needed in THIS team's organization was change, and this is another change meant to help bring the team together early and keep them there all the way through the season.

As for the comment about injuring himself between now and camp, wtf does that matter? if it happens it happens, that has no bearing on this situation at all. the same result would happen either way in that case, kitna would be back at the #1 spot and things would move along.

[cthomer5000]

Who names a starter in March? Perhaps the decision is fine since he's getting the dough but what does Palmer need some kind of stroking or something? He has to show up in camp with these assurances of getting the ball first?

Bad teams do stuff like this. Let him show up in camp and earn the job and let the best players play. Even if as an organization you'd determined he'll be the guy why say anything?
At the conclusion of last season, Lewis said he would name the starter by the start of the mini-camps - so this isn't a shock.

Unless you were on the Bengals coaching staff, you have absolutely no idea how Palmer looked in practice, how familiar he was with the playbook, how the team responds to him, etc. Maybe Palmer looked better than Kitna? Without some inside sources, you have no idea.

Jon Kitna is clearly not the future at QB for any team in the NFL, while Carson Palmer may very well be. For the long-term future of both Palmer and the Bengals, this move had to be made sooner rather than later.

The team clearly is buying in to Marvin Lewis, and I think they'll gladly follow this unless they open the season getting shut out in 5 consecutive games.

rkm, you seem to have some sort of agenda in this thread and i don't know or care why.

[rkmsuf]

rkm, you seem to have some sort of agenda in this thread and i don't know or care why.

Whatever, your opinion is the correct one then. Better?

[SunDancer]

I think that Lewis made the right decision with Palmer. I really like Palmer's skills and style alot.