Report: Raiders Officially Trade Carson Palmer To Cardinals

April 2, 2013

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that the Raiders have officially trade QB Carson Palmer to the Cardinals for a conditional 2014 seventh-round pick.

Schefter adds that the conditional pick is based on the number of games Palmer starts this season. He would have to start 13 games to activate the conditions.

Adam Caplan reports that Palmer’s deal will pay him $8 million annually. He’ll receive $16 million over two-years and can earn the remaining $4 million by reaching incentives. Palmer gets $10 million guaranteed.
Ian Rapoport reports that the Cardinals and Raiders will swap 6th and seventh round picks this year, which results in Oakland moving up 43 spots.
Schefter adds that and the contract includes an out for the Cardinals after the first year.
Andrew Brandt mentions that Palmer will still count $9.34 million on the Raiders’ cap.

This is very little in terms of compensation for Palmer, but it wasn’t as though the Raiders had any leverage in the situation, so they’ll essentially take what they can get for him.

Oakland gave up 2012 first-round pick and a conditional 2013 selection, that wound up being second-rounder, for 25 games from Palmer and a conditional 2014 seventh-round pick. Clearly, this ends up being one of the worst trades in recent memory.

Palmer mentioned during his press conference that the Raiders’ offer included no guaranteed money, per Albert Breer.

“I’m here to introduce our starting quarterback, and put it to bed,” said Cardinals head coach, per Albert Breer. “And I’m very happy about it.”

“I think our quarterback room is as strong as any in the National Football League,” Arians said.

They signed Drew Stanton a few weeks ago, but considering the money that they’re paying Palmer, it makes more sense for them to see what he’s capable of doing in Bruce Arians’ offensive scheme.

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Update:

Ed Werder of ESPN reports that a trade involving QB Carson Palmer to the Cardinals should be finalized in the next 24 hours.

Kent Somers reports that Palmer met with Cardinals’ executives in Arizona on Monday night.

The two sides are still trying to reach an agreement on both draft pick compensation and a new contract that would reduce Palmer’s $13 million salary for the 2013 season.

The fact that he chose to meet with the team suggests that he’s willing to work with them to get a deal finalized, but Palmer clearly holds the leverage in this situation. Palmer could force his release, which in turn would allow him to sign with a team of his choosing. He was believed to have interest in playing for the 49ers and Buccaneers, but with San Francisco trading for Colt McCoy on Monday, they can be removed from the list of speculative options.

Raiders head coach Dennis Allen explained that they’re prepared to move on without Palmer as their quarterback next season.

“When we looked at it, both from his standpoint and our standpoint, we just realized that it was time for us to move on and move forward,” Allen said of Palmer, via the Oakland Tribune. “…I talked to Carson probably Saturday, over the weekend, and kind of explained to him, where we were at, what the process was.”

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Update:

Jason La Canfora reports that talks between the Raiders and Cardinals regarding a trade for Carson Palmer have reportedly “hit a snag” according to his source.

La Canfora adds that they’re unsure if they’ll be able to overcome the current issues. The two sides remain “deep in talks” and are reportedly pushing to get a deal done

We’ll have more as the news becomes available.

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Update:

Jay Glazer of Fox Sports reports that the Cardinals are currently working on a trade for QB Carson Palmer.

Glazer adds that the Cardinals still needs to work out an agreement on a restructured contract with Palmer.
Jason La Canfora is “hearing” that Palmer will make $8 million with the Cardinals.
Chris Mortensen reports that the Raiders will only receive a “bargain basement price” for Palmer.
John Clayton notes that the Raiders will gain $5.995 million in cap space by from this deal, but could have saved $13 million by releasing June 1.
Adam Schefter reports that Palmer was hoping to end up with the Buccaneers.

Oakland figures to receive a sixth or seventh-round pick, assuming of course that Arizona is able to reach an agreement with Palmer.

Ian Rapoport reports that the Cardinals will likely release a quarterback following the Palmer trade and John Skelton looks to be the odd-man out.

Jason La Canfora tweets that the Cardinals could look to trade QB Brian Hoyer for a late-round pick. He mentions that the Browns could have interest in Hoyer.

It will be interesting to see if Oakland is considering drafting West Virginia QB Geno Smith at No. 3 overall in the next few weeks.

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Update:

Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic reports sources have informed him that the Cardinals are willing to “make a deal” for Raiders QB Carson Palmer, but will only do so “if it doesn’t cost them much.”

Somers adds that Arizona would be willing to offer “late-round draft picks” and possibly even conditional picks for Palmer.

Oakland is reportedly considering all of their available options, which includes a trade for Seahawks QB Matt Flynn, as well as free agent QB Kevin Kolb.

Trading Palmer would make sense, even Oakland was only able to secure a late-round draft pick, but Palmer’s current salary could be an inhibiting factor, as it’s unlikely that the Cardinals would be willing to take on $13 million this season. Palmer has already refused to restructure his current deal and seems unlikely to do so in order to facilitate a trade. He holds all of the leverage in the situation simply because he can wait for his release and then choose his next team.

Palmer is believed to have interest in playing for the Cardinals and 49ers, but ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported last night that those around the league would be really surprised to see him playing for Arizona.

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Update:

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that people around the league believe it would “a real surprise” to see Carson Palmer playing the Cardinals.

Mike Garafolo reports that the Cardinals and 49ers are Carson Palmer‘s preferred options as soon as he becomes available.
Garafolo’s sources added that the Raiders are expected to approach Palmer regarding pay cut one final time before deciding whether or not to pursue a trade for Seahawks QB Matt Flynn. The expectation is that Palmer will pass on renegotiating his deal.
Ian Rapoport reports that Arizona has already started doing their homework regarding Palmer.
Rapoport also mentions that the Buccaneers could be an option as well.

Jason La Canfora reports that the Cardinals “are nearing a deal” for Carson Palmer, but it remains unclear if he’s referring to a trade between the two teams.

La Canfora adds that the biggest holdup regarding Palmer to the Cardinals would be whether or not he’s willing to renegotiate his contract.

The Cardinals seem like the best option given that they can offer him a starting job, while he’s more likely to be a backup with either San Francisco or Tampa Bay.

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Update:

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter (Insider), “multiple people around the league” seem to believe that QB Carson Palmer will never take another snap for the Oakland Raiders.

Schefter mentions the sames options that have been previously proposed:

Trade for Matt Flynn
Draft a quarterback at No. 3 overall, most likely Geno Smith.
Start Terrelle Pryor.

Mike Silver of Yahoo! Sports reported on Thursday that the situation involving Palmer is much more complicated as the Raiders would incur a $9.34 million cap hit by releasing him.

On top of that, Flynn has a $7.25 million cap figure for the 2013 season, so it’s not as easy as releasing Palmer and then trading for Flynn to be his replacement.

Palmer is reportedly unwilling to renegotiate his contract, which means they’ll either have to pay him his $13 million this season, take the cap hit and look for a replacement.

As if this situation wasn’t disastrous enough, the Bengals hold the Raiders second-round pick this year.

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Mike Silver of Yahoo! Sports reports that Carson Palmer‘s recent decision to not restructure his contract is based on a sense that he’s no longer willing to play for the Raiders.

Silver mentions that Palmer may actually prefer to be a backup on a contending than return to the Raiders.
Silver adds that Palmer could end up signing with the Cardinals if released.
Oakland could look to replace Palmer by either trading for Matt Flynn or drafting Geno Smith at No. 3 overall, according to Silver.

Given what has transpired in recent weeks, Silver writes that there’s an “increasing sense” from both sides that a divorce is imminent.

Oakland’s roster is in a bad shape to say the least, so it’s by no means surprising to see an aging quarterback want to move on. Still, Palmer is set to make a ridiculous $13 million for the 2013 season. According to Silver’s source, Palmer isn’t concerned about the money, but is willing to use it as a way to get him out of Oakland.

This figures to be a popular topic in the weeks leading up to this year’s NFL Draft.