Carson Palmer's five-bedroom Cincinnati-area house has been sold for $1.915 million, about $200,000 less than its $2.1 million asking price, *The Cincinnati Enquirer* reported Wednesday.
The quarterback told Bengals officials after the team's 4-12 season that he wanted to be traded or he would retire. Bengals owner Mike Brown repeatedly has said he will not oblige Palmer, whom he drafted first overall in 2003.
Bengals wide receiver Chad Ochocinco told WXIX-TV last week that he's convinced Palmer, who is signed through 2014 at a cost of $53 million, is serious about the retirement talk.
"There's this one thing you have to understand about Carson. When a guy that grows a random beard says he's going to do something, he means it," Ochocinco said. "Seriously. Seriously, that's totally out of his character. When someone like that grows a random beard and says he's going to retire -- if he doesn't get traded -- he means business. And it's unfortunate, but it is what it is."
Ochocinco held out a little bit of hope the situation might change.
"I love (Palmer), you know that. You know how I feel about him, and I always will," Ochocinco said. "Everything I've done, I like to say that Carson is the reason for my success -- as so is everybody else. But, you know, he's the quarterback, period. And I think he's in a frustrated state, similar to what I was couple of years ago [when the receiver asked to be traded]. And hopefully everything comes around."
Buffalo Bills quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, who backed up Palmer in 2007 and '08 and remains a close friend, also doesn't see any resolution to the Palmer-Brown standoff in sight.
"I've talked with Carson, but I don't really want to talk about his business. But I will say that those are two very strong-minded people, Mr. Brown and Carson," Fitzpatrick said after a Bills workout in late May. "It seems like it's definitely at a stalemate right now, and I don't see it going anywhere."
Were Palmer to change his mind, Bengals coach Marvin Lewis hasn't only left the door open for his return but he has said the quarterback would remain the team's starter.
"If Palmer comes back, he would be the starting quarterback, and we would groom (second-round pick) Andy (Dalton) to be the quarterback of the future," Lewis said during a conference call that he and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell held with Bengals season-ticket holders last month.
The quarterback listed the house in suburban Indian Hill for sale in March.
