Andrew Whitworth says Carson Palmer serious about trade request

Cincinnati Bengals offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth protects the blind side of quarterback Carson Palmer.

He's a fellow father who exchanges text messages and holds conversations with the quarterback about their kids.

And Whitworth said that Palmer is serious about his recent trade request, which was rebuffed by owner Mike Brown.

"It’s one of those things where I have my own selfish motives and I’d love to have him back but that’s one of those decisions where Carson wouldn’t speak out unless it was something he was serious about," Whitworth told the Cincinnati Enquirer. "He’s not the kind of guy to bring this up and just throw it out there as a bargaining tool. He’s serious. It’s one of those deals where I’ll let him have his feelings and I’ve told him that if he ever wants to talk to me about it I’d love to but you have to let him make his own decisions about what is best for him and his family. That’s what you want.

"At the end of the day, if he doesn’t want to be here you don’t want a guy that doesn’t want to be here. You want him to do what he is comfortable doing and you want the Brown family to do what they are comfortable with so it’s something I don’t feel everybody else needs to pull and tug on. That’s their own personal decisions and they will need to make them."

Whitworth said he wasn't surprised by Palmer going public with his trade request.

"No, not really," Whitworth said. "I knew he was really frustrated and knew it had been a tough year for him. It had to be. He took a lot of blame for a lot of things that probably weren’t his (fault) and things that for sure weren’t his fault. That’s the nature of a quarterback but I think in a year in which he was so excited about the potential of our team and for everything to go so badly was tough on him.

"Then it didn’t help that there were – and you say Cincinnati fans but the people who do stuff like they did to him aren’t real fans. You’ve got your real fans that will love and support you no matter what but having stuff thrown in his yard and stuff like that, just stuff that is uncalled for. There is stuff like that I’m sure hurt him and put him in a place where he’s not just hurt but worried about his family and people coming to his house. You worry about all that for him but in the end I can feel his frustrations so I wasn’t exactly surprised but I was concerned."

Brown has said he won't trade Palmer, so we'll see which side blinks first.

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