Palmer's thoughts on Bengals pick, playing #1 overall QB's

[*ochocincos*]

(01-09-2020, 05:40 PM)Bengalholic Wrote: I know some don't really care what Carson has to say about anything, but I always like to see what former Bengals have to say about Bengal related topics, and he shares some of his thoughts in a recent Draft Wire article.

On Bengals taking Burrow or Chase Young:

"I think between Joe Burrow and the Ohio State defensive end Chase Young, the Bengals have a decision to make and I’m not sure there’s a wrong decision between those guys. I think both of those guys are gonna have phenomenal careers. At the end of the day, the quarterback position is just so important and Cincinnati desperately needs a quarterback. I can see Joe Burrow going No. 1 overall there. With Chase Young and the year he had, he looks like an absolute game-wrecker at the NFL level. Again, the quarterback position is just so important and there’s so few great quarterbacks.

I think Burrow is gonna be a great NFL quarterback. He’s led his team up until this point, he’s been extremely tough in the pocket. He’s more athletic than people give him credit for. We’ve seen him use his legs a little bit and I think that’s an underrated trait to his game. Quarterbacks running in the SEC typically translate over well to the pro game. If you can run, take off and get 10 yards here and there against SEC defenses, there’s a good chance that you can do that at the NFL level as well. He’s that type of athlete and he has a dynamic skill-set."

On playing or sitting a #1 overall rookie QB:

"I think that’s more a function of the salary cap and rookie wage scale. When I was coming out, and Phillip Rivers did the same thing by sitting for a year, that was before the rookie wage scale. We were signing six-year contracts back then. Nowadays, these guys are forced to sign four-year contracts. The team and the players don’t have the luxury of sitting and waiting. We’re talking about missing out on 25% of their rookie contracts by sitting them for even just a year. 

When it’s all said and done, that gives them just three years to make a decision on their future and if they’re gonna reward a guy with a big, massive contract extension. I think it’s a function of the way the salary cap and the rookie wage scale is set up nowadays. Ideally, I think it’s important for a guy to sit and watch for a year. You just don’t see that anymore for the reasons I outlined above."

Palmer brings up a fantastic point that I hadn't thought of until just now.
With the new CBA, it brought forced duration on rookie deals whereas that was negotiable prior to 2011.
As Palmer said, a player could be signed for 6 or 7 years, giving him more time to develop and therefore teams willing to have their player sit a year or two.
With the new deal, you need players playing as soon as possible, as you lose precious service time on cheap salary cap hits.
It's more important than ever to find guys who can be quality players immediately.
Don't tell that to Mike Brown though. He won't believe you. He is perfectly fine with giving all his players 3 years to develop.