Carson Palmer to Retire After Lockout?

The Cincinnati Bengals would rather have Carson Palmer retire than trade him.

This means Palmer, who has stated on multiple occasions that he wants out of Cincinnati, will in all likelihood call it quits after the lockout ends.

We don't plan to trade Carson, said Bengals owner Mike Brown on the NFL Network. He's important to us. He's a very fine player, and we do want him to come back. If he chooses not to, he'd retire. And we would go with Andy Dalton the younger player we drafted, who's a good prospect.

ESPN cited a confidant of Palmer's who said he will never set foot in Paul Brown Stadium again.

Palmer is owed $50 million on his contract, and likely wants to play in a warm-weather city. But with the Bengals not interested in making a trade, Palmer will probably instead enjoy Sundays in Southern California at his home instead of with his helmet and pads on.

The Bengals will be paying a lot of money to an inactive player.

Palmer threw 154 touchdowns in his eight-year career, and passed for 22,694 yards. His career passing rating is 86.9.

The Bengals drafted Andy Dalton out of Texas Christian with their second-round draft pick. Dalton will likely be the starter in 2011.