They happen to be excellent niche, You pretty much appriciate all your get this occupation concluded.

Okay awcniners,

Let's say the contracts are not guaranteed.  If they were, how many Palmer's would be pulling this stunt for just getting their feelings hurt by their current organization?  Welcome to the real business world.  In this case, the Bengals are more than willing to live up to their end but Palmer isn't intending on living up to his.  Greener pastures where?  For him, no place and that is a fact so he might as well retire.  Later he may thank the Bengals organization for doing him a favor he is too stupid to realize himself.  This isn't chump change they are dealing with here either and the team still wants to keep this guy? 

Give some credit to the owners for being good shrewd businessman in some cases too.  In the case of that All Pro Safety in St. Louis, the owners are not paying the roster bonus but ultimately it comes down to who negotiated the better/best deal and no play, no pay.  If there are not bonuses or incentives where is the hunger to play hard beyond just showing up.  You obviously feel I guess this safety apparently earned this bonus and the team however disagreed.  This is a team option the player was well aware of and is/was not in violation of his contract.  Palmer is a franchsie player and he knows it too.  Many players on his team will suffer next year from a win loss standpoint if he does not suit up and play at his best which he sure did not this year and this latest trade gripe in retrospect sort of proves this and where his mind is.  Oh yes, the owners own the lions share of the risk alright.  Making Palmer's brother the back-up was a mistake but who was it done for?  The brother sure wasn't the best man for the job I can tell you that and the team gambled everything on Carson at the QB position to produce.  The records speaks for itself.  Sadly, the team is still willing to keep this guy after all the crap he is pulling too.  Where is the credit in that?  As a teammate how could you ever trust this guy again?  As an owner from an opposing team looking for a QB how does that owner or GM know that this Palmer isn't going to pull this same crap next off season.  Palmer has made himself a huge risk for any team now and the Bengals are willing to still take that risk. 

I suggest you think very carefully in the future before you speak out on behalf of players vs. owners.  Cincinnati is not your ordinary franchise either.  They except sub-standard players and mediocre play much longer than most teams.  If this were Dallas or Pittsburgh, old Palmer would be costing coaches and front office people their jobs alogn with being dealt.  He already cost an Offensive Coordinator his job in Cincinnati.  Don't know much about Bratkowski but some other team (I think it was Atlanta) sure snatched him up quick too.

From what I've seen, It looked like Palmer retired years ago!

While I live in the area, I am not a Bengals fan, so I have "no dog in the fight'.  As It seems Palmer is serious about his position, it's only good sense to accomodate his demands and trade him to receive value. But,  for whatever you think about Mike Brown, he has consistently taken the position that contracts are just that and they are to be honored. Now you might call him archaic, but there is a part of me that celebrates someone who says " you signed a contract, gave your word and took my money- I expect you to live up to it."  So if I were forced to bet I'd say that Carson will be enjoying his $80.0 million at home with the wife and kids for a least a year or two before Mike Brown relents. I know I'm in the miniority but I kind of respect him for that.

Redskin i agree with you completely there is no way cincy can afford to just let palmer retire.  If the guy wants out get rid of him and get something in return, this will be a disaster for the bungies if they let him retire. 
That all being said i am a steeler fan so i hope cincy is dumb enough to let him retire.

Palmer will be traded within a week of this thing getting done. Cincinnati is not going to let him retire and get nothing for him and he is not going to play for them. i think even if they want to play hardball, they can't afford that. They will draft a QB or trade for one. I don't know what his contract says about trades, but Washington has full trade rights with Mcnabb. Though I don't reall want Palmer either, I would take that trade because Mcnabb is not going to be here either and they both have unreasonable contracts. Owens would have to leave Cincinnati too so how about a sign and trade with Cincinnati getting Haynesworth and Mcnabb and Washington getting Palmer and Owens? 

Everything the Bungles do these days smacks of 2nd division, if not 3rd, the bloke just doesn't want to play for you so why not get something for him before Palmer becomes completely worthless?
Crazyperson

Does Palmer, correction any pro athlete, know what it means when you sign a contract?  A contract means you agree to fulfill the terms of it.

Do you know anything about football contracts? They are not guaranteed, so if the organization suddenly decides they don't want to pay you, they can cut you and you get nothing! If they don't have to live up to the contract, why should the player? I'll give you an example. The Rams recently cut an All Pro safety because they did not want to pay the $8 million roster bonus they would have to pay. They signed the contract a couple years before, why aren't they living up to their end of the bargain? It happens all the time, so don't be ignorant in thinking it is only the players. It goes both ways, usually with the owners doing it.