THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
CINCINNATI, Ohio — The Cincinnati Bengals waived quarterback Jordan Palmer on Saturday, giving his older brother another reason to stay away.
Palmer was the No. 2 quarterback behind older brother Carson Palmer, who asked for a trade after the season. The franchise quarterback has told the team he’d rather retire than play another season with Cincinnati, which is one of the NFL’s least-successful teams.
The Bengals signed Jordan Palmer to another contract before the start of training camp. He hoped to get a chance to compete for a job, but it became clear quickly that Cincinnati had other plans.
Owner Mike Brown said rookie Andy Dalton would start. The Bengals also signed veteran Bruce Gradkowski. Those two got most of the plays during training camp and the pre-season games, leaving Palmer out of the picture.
It wasn’t a complete surprise that he was waived.
"Based on coming off the off-season and coming into camp, yeah, I’m surprised," Palmer said, in a phone interview from his home in Cincinnati. "As I started to see this unfolding in terms of the opportunity I was given, I’m not as surprised now."
The Bengals also released cornerback Fred Bennett, who was on the roster for the last five games in 2010, and waived safety Tom Nelson, cornerback LeRoy Vann, linebacker Stephen Franklin and receiver Jamere Holland.
Carson Palmer was the first overall pick in 2003, coach Marvin Lewis’ first season in Cincinnati. He sat and watched Jon Kitna run the offence for a year, then took the team to its only two playoff appearances in the last 20 years.
After the Bengals finished 4-12 last season and Lewis agreed to stay as head coach even though Brown said nothing would change, Palmer approached the front office about a trade.
Brown insists he won’t trade Palmer because he has four years left on his contract.
The Bengals signed Jordan Palmer as their No. 3 quarterback before the 2008 season. He appeared in three games that year, throwing a dozen passes. He was promoted to the No. 2 quarterback last season, when he got into one game and threw three times.
After Carson Palmer said he wasn’t coming back, Jordan took over the offence during the NFL’s lockout. He had receivers out to his home in California for workouts, and helped organize full-team practices in Cincinnati. He also helped the offence learn new co-ordinator Jay Gruden’s playbook, and tutored Dalton on the fine points of playing quarterback in the NFL.
During three pre-season games, he got to throw only four passes — fewest among the four quarterbacks in camp. Dan LeFevour, the No. 3 quarterback last season, got more throws than Palmer.
