PA Season Ticket Holder
02-23-2003, 09:42 PM
INDIANAPOLIS -- Holders of the first overall choice in the draft, the Cincinnati Bengals are in a bit of a pickle right now, because they would prefer not to exercise the pick.
But the problem for Cincinnati, and one that became obvious here this week at the annual predraft scouting combine, is that no franchise is keen on moving up into the first slot to select Carson Palmer, the Heisman Trophy winner and former Southern Cal star.
Too many teams in need of help at the quarterback position, like Chicago which owns the fourth overall selection, are wary of paying big money to a guy who has had only one big season in college. And certainly Cincinnati owner Mike Brown, burned in the past by high first-round choices like Ki-Jana Carter and Akili Smith, is hardly sold on the idea of investing an eight-figure signing bonus in an unproven commodity.
MORE (http://msn.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/pasquarelli_len/1513186.html)
But the problem for Cincinnati, and one that became obvious here this week at the annual predraft scouting combine, is that no franchise is keen on moving up into the first slot to select Carson Palmer, the Heisman Trophy winner and former Southern Cal star.
Too many teams in need of help at the quarterback position, like Chicago which owns the fourth overall selection, are wary of paying big money to a guy who has had only one big season in college. And certainly Cincinnati owner Mike Brown, burned in the past by high first-round choices like Ki-Jana Carter and Akili Smith, is hardly sold on the idea of investing an eight-figure signing bonus in an unproven commodity.
MORE (http://msn.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/pasquarelli_len/1513186.html)