Carson Palmer: Bengals have a “difficult decision” to make

[Who Dey]

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Carson Palmer created a lot of offseason #content by slamming the Bengals for not being committed to winning, days before his brother Jordan Palmer’s client Joe Burrow said he wanted to go to a team committed to winning.

Those waters seemed to calm at the Scouting Combine when Burrow said he was fine playing for the Bengals, but now the elder Palmer is giving the pot one final stir.

During an appearance on The Dan Patrick Show, Palmer said he didn’t think it was automatic that the Bengals would use the first pick in the 2020 NFL Draft on Burrow, as opposed to Ohio State defensive end Chase Young.

“That’s a great question. At the end of the day, when you’re looking at Andy Dalton, who’s currently under contract for the Bengals, who is a really good player. He gets a knock mainly because he’s played for the Bengals,” Palmer said, via the Cincinnati Enquirer. “But Andy can play. And Andy may not be a No. 1 pick and may not be that guy off the draft board but Andy has been extremely, extremely productive. And you’ve got a chance to get a guy who can get after the quarterback probably 14 to 15 to 16 times — like a Von Miller type of career at defensive end, that guy’s hard to pass up. And the other thing about Chase Young too is he’s great in the run game.

“There is a ton of unknowns on Joe [Burrow],” Palmer added. “He played one year of college football. It is extremely risky, right? But you’ve got to have a quarterback. And that position is — as we know — it’s the position you have to have. Every team that is a Super Bowl contender has a quarterback. So until you have that guy, you’re always looking for him. Now, Andy Dalton still is under contract. Chase Young, as you’re saying, could be the best player in the draft — probably is the best player in the draft. I think it’s a really difficult decision that they have to make. They have to either pass up on a guy that’s a 14-sack guy or go after a guy that could be the future of your franchise and handle the quarterback position for the future of your franchise for the next 10 to 15 years. It’s obviously a big decision and a difficult decision.”

Of course, it hasn’t been presented that way by the Bengals, who have maxed out their videoconference time with Burrow, and seem intent on taking him first overall.

Unless Palmer knows something the rest of us don’t.