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NFL.com, Adam Shefter - Carson Palmer's torn anterior cruciate ligament has done an equal amount of damage to the Cincinnati Bengals' long-term quarterback picture.
Suddenly the Bengals quarterback situation resembles the San Diego Chargers'.
Each team was loaded at the position, and each lost its starter to a debilitating injury. Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer tore his anterior cruciate ligament -- and hopefully that's all the damage, and it also doesn't include posterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments -- during Sunday's wild-card game versus the Steelers.
Chargers quarterback Drew Brees tore his labrum during San Diego's regular-season finale and underwent surgery this past week that will sideline him for four months.
Carson Palmer's injury put an end to the Bengals' title hopes, at least for this season.
Carson Palmer's injury put an end to the Bengals' title hopes, at least for this season.
The Bengals had to turn to veteran Jon Kitna, a quarterback other teams were hoping to lure to their city this offseason during free agency. The Chargers had to turn to Philip Rivers, a quarterback other teams were eyeing to possibly trade for this offseason.
But Palmer's injury and Brees' injury might make the Bengals and Chargers even more reluctant to lose their other quarterback.
The difference here is that the Chargers control the rights to Rivers; the Bengals do not control the rights to Kitna; he is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent -- unless Cincinnati now decides to slap its franchise tag on Kitna. The price tag would be high, somewhere around $6-6.5 million, but it would insure that Kitna returns to Cincinnati for a season in which it is questionable whether Palmer will be ready for training camp.
Lun 9 Jan 2006 - 20:56