Carson Palmer, last year's starter, is owed $13 million in 2013 and another $15 million in 2014, despite a career that is clearly trending downwards.
Over 25 games in Oakland, Palmer has thrown 30 interceptions and delivered just eight wins. He'll also be 34 years old by the end of 2013.
Instead of wasting another year with an expensive and aging Palmer under center, the Raiders should really think about cutting all ties with a bad trade and moving forward with his backup, the 23-year-old Terrelle Pryor.
Do the Raiders really have anything to lose by making that choice?
Palmer, despite a 4,000-yard season in 2012, is not the long-term answer in Oakland or elsewhere. Few will argue that the Raiders are any closer to competing for a Super Bowl with Palmer under center.
Trading for Palmer was a poor management decision made during desperate times from the last regime. Former head coach Hue Jackson unwisely sent two high picks to the Cincinnati Bengals for the then-retired Palmer, with the hope that he could save a season that started 4-2 but saw starting quarterback Jason Campbell break his collarbone.
That bad decision shouldn't force another one on the Raiders two years later.
Pryor may not be ready to save the Raiders franchise from the get-go, but sooner or later general manager Reggie McKenzie has to find out what kind of quarterback he has in the former Ohio State star. Now entering his second NFL season, Pryor should be ready to take the next step from shaky backup to legitimate NFL quarterback.
Spoiling away in the hope of mediocrity with Palmer, while failing to figure out what Pryor brings to the table in the process, simply isn't smart business.
Instead, the Raider...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Oakland Raiders
