The Raiders trade for Carson Palmer saw them fork over a price not often seen in the NFL. The Bengals would have done well to get a second-round pick had they traded him this offseason. Teams rarely trade a first-round draft pick for a player—let alone a first and a second or possibly two firsts.
However, I am not going to say they paid over market value. Because this is a unique market. Given the circumstances, this trade can be measured on the normal scale. In the NFL offseason, there are more options available. If a price is too high for one player, you move on to the next. That means the wins that a targeted player offers to team is not that great. There was no next in this scenario.
Those conditions made Carson Palmer uniquely and insanely valuable to the Raiders. It was either land Palmer or roll with Kyle Boller. In my eyes, that is the difference between hoping to crawl into the playoffs, or expecting to make the playoffs and contend.
The Raiders did not just trade their picks for Carson Palmer, they traded it for an entire 2011 season. Two rookies that will be signed to a four year deal and hopefully pan out doesn't seem like that steep of price for a potentially fantastic ride.
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