You disappoint me Carson, I had such high hopes for us

Yes, after months of boring and tedious debate the men in suits finally got a new CBA sorted, which means I can look forward to spending my autumn Sunday evenings watching grown men give each other concussions rather than repeats of Spaced and Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Football is back and with it a wave of chaos as teams desperately try to race through free agency, sign up draft picks and get their house in order for a season little more than a month away.

The focus is strong on all 32 teams but down on the muddy banks of the Ohio, in little old Cincinnati, there’s only one story in town - namely the fate of the Bengals’ franchise quarterback and sometime saviour Carson Palmer.

In reality Palmer, who asked to be traded while threatening to retire back in January, has been the big issue even during the league’s five month hiatus.

On Tuesday of this week we got some kind of closure, when team owner Mike Brown refused to trade the wantaway star and in a bizarre moment, effectively announced his retirement to the gathered press corps.

On Wednesday night, the Bengals agreed terms with veteran signal caller Bruce Gradkowski and with rookie Andy Dalton also in the ranks, Palmer’s days in Cincinnati look all but over.

Back in January, when the Palmer story first broke, I wrote a blog which largely praised the player but since then my views have changed somewhat.

I took the opinion Palmer was effectively bluffing, in an attempt to force Brown into making the drastic changes needed to make the Bengals a force.

Instead it turns out he really does want to leave at any cost, or at least you have to assume so, given the wall of silence which has emanated from his direction over the past few months.

I’m sure I’m not alone in being disappointed with Palmer for not speaking out or going on record with his grievances - particularly considering the amount of time he was in a position to do so.

He was one of the few players at the Bengals who held enough respect among the fanbase and the media to take Brown on head first and bring some of the Bengals biggest issues into the limelight. The fact he chose not to do so and kept silent while obviously being displeased, is one of the reasons people are now chiding him for taking the cowards way out.

For the Bengals, having an important player like Palmer retire because he has grown sick of the club is still an embarrassment but with Brown in charge is one they seem prepared to take.

Now it’s become clear Palmer has no future with the Bengals, it’s essential they trade him and get as much value as they can.

If we’re honest, we fans have been making excuses for Palmer for some time now and for me he’s never been the same since the knee injury against Pittsburgh.

Before then he had swagger but afterwards he looked like a quarterback scared of making mistakes, even though he still put up good numbers.

As fans we clung to the belief he would return to the grand old days of 2005. Every 60-yard TD pass meant Palmer was back. Bad game? He’s got an a slight hand injury don’t you know, anyhows that interception was the receivers fault.

Around this time last year, I described the 2010 season as make-or-break for Palmer. The Bengals finished 4-12 and while it was far from all his fault, there can be no more excuses.

In many ways the plays during what look like being his final moments as a Bengals almost perfectly sum up his career. Three perfect throws to move the offense 60 yards downfield during a final minute drive in Baltimore, before sending what would have been the game-winning pass 10 yards over the head of an open man.

So close to greatness, yet always falling short.

Looking forward, the pickup of Gradkowski looks a sensible one, even though two of his six career wins have come against the Bengals. He knows new offensive co-ordinator Jay Gruden, can be a mentor to Dalton and in a season which many fans are expecting to be a disaster, the pressure is very much off.

I’ve seen some talk of Dalton being the starter but unless he starts off like Joe Montana but in division as rough as the AFC North I think this would be madness.

One of the things the Bengals got right with Palmer was sitting him for the first season behind Jon Kitna and letting him learn the trade.

Let’s give our new great hope the same chance, before throwing him to the wolves.

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