NFL GridIron Gab Daily Digest

If there was any doubt that Carson Palmer wasn’t going to be under center for the Bengals in 2011, the evidence keeps mounting that he won’t be around. First his Cincy home officially sold, and next, wide out Chad Ochocinco, who also may be on his way out, says that there’s no way that Palmer will be the QB of the Bengals in 2011.

Carson Palmer says he’ll never play for the Cincinnati Bengals again and his house in the Cincinnati suburbs recently sold. One of his favorite targets said Thursday he doesn’t doubt the quarterback won’t play for the team again. Chad Ochocinco, interviewed by “SportsCenter” on Thursday, said Palmer is a man of his word. “He will sit out, he will retire,” Ochocinco said from the Atlanta Motor Speedway, where he rode in a car with Sprint Cup driver Jeff Burton. Ochocinco added that Palmer is “frustrated” and wants a “fresh start.” Bengals owner Mike Brown repeatedly has said this offseason that he won’t trade Palmer. According to reports in Cincinnati, Palmer recently sold his five-bedroom property on five acres in Indian Hill, Ohio, for approximately $1.9 million.

While fans and players alike are waiting to see when a new CBA is going to be agreed upon to end this way to long lockout, there’s a thought process in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that free agency, something we all have been waiting for, is going to start on July 18th when players can re-sign, and then on July 20th the market will open and players can ink where they see fit.

Judge Susan Richard Nelson ordered an end to the lockout in April, but the NFL appealed that decision. The Eighth Circuit granted the owners appeal, but both sides were urged to come to an agreement without the court’s involvement. Joel Turner, who represents Steelers safety Ryan Clark, said he was told by a person familiar with the negotiations that the goal is for the deal to be official by July 15. He also said it is his understanding that the free agency period would begin July 18, with a 48-hour signing period for undrafted free agents to follow. Then veteran free agents would go on the market July 20. “It’s going to be wild,” Turner said. “That’s going to leave only 5-7 days before most teams report to camp.”

An woman has accused WR Terrell Owens of failing to pay $5,000 a month in child support he owes.

The Associated Press reports the mother of Owens’ child placed a court filing asking the court to hold him in contempt. Melanie Paige Smith filed court papers June 20 in an Atlanta court seeking to hold the player in contempt.

Owens “has failed and refused to pay the full amount of child support for June 2011,” Atlanta attorney Randall Kessler wrote in court records. Owens’ financial advisers have informed Smith that he’s decided to no longer pay the full amount, Kessler added.

Kessler said Wednesday that Smith doesn’t have any ill will toward Owens.

“She simply asks that he follow the order to which he agreed,” he said. “Rather than discussing his situation with her or her lawyers first, he simply cut his child support.”

Owens’ agent, Drew Rosenhaus, did not immediately return messages Wednesday seeking comment.

Packers President and CEO Mark Murphy mailed season-ticket holders this week about the availability of Super Bowl rings and other jewelry and specialty items they now can purchase according to Tony Walter of the Green Bay Press-Gazette.

A 10-karat ring that identifies the owner as a shareholder or season-ticket holder costs $2,499. Or, if the lustrium option — a mixture of nickel and chromium — is selected, the price drops to $399. Other fans who select the “Ultimate Fan Ring” can get the 10-karat ring for $1,999 or the lustrium ring for $299.

While it’s all about the Packers and their Super Bowl title, it’s not all about rings. Super Bowl offerings include charm bracelets, earrings, cufflinks, money clips, pendants, key rings, posters, pens and paperweights. The cheapest items are the posters, which show the team’s rings, that sell for $19 each.

Jay Glazer of FOXSports.com reports that a secretive conference call between NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith and “elite” members of the rank and file have dampened the hope that a new collective bargaining agreement will be reached before we all fire up our sparklers this weekend.

According to Glazer, 50 Pro Bowlers were asked to participate in the Tuesday night call, and Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis and Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew were two of the participants.

One unidentified player on the call disclosed that years to unrestricted free agency, which ESPN’s Adam Schefter has reported is expected to revert back to four years of serve, continues to be an issue in the negotiations.

“At one point, we were asked if we could sell six years of free agency to our locker rooms and we all said there's no way,” the player told FOXSports.com. “We heard about that and the (issue of) retired players — and that is even before we start talking about splitting the revenue.”

Glazer’s report certainly has a “Debbie Downer” feel to it. Last night’s report from Sports Illustrated’s Peter King that Smith and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell were flying to Florida together to appear this morning at the NFLPA’s “Business of Football: Rookie Edition” symposium fueled optimism that a deal was near. That was followed by today’s report from the NFL Network that owners and players were re-joining talks in Minneapolis.

The report also sound very familiar to Pro Football Talk’s report last Thursday where, in a conference call with players, Smith downplayed the reported progress the two sides were making in these not-so-secretive talks.

Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer has sold his Indian Hill home for $1.915 million, Joe Reedy of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

Palmer has requested a trade, and put his home on the market in March. The original asking price on the home was $2.1 million.

The 31-year-old Palmer is scheduled to earn $11.5 million in 2011, but has threatened to retire if the Bengals do not accommodate his request. Teams have not been able to make any transactions during the lockout, but Bengals owner Mike Brown has stated on several occasions that he has no intentions of trading Palmer, who has four years and $53 million remaining on his contract.

As noted by Reedy, if Palmer is not traded and does not show up for training camp, the Bengals can place him on the “Reserve/Did Not Report” list and his $11.5 million salary cap hit would come off the books. With teams reportedly needing to spend 90-93 percent of the salary cap (by season’s end), that would actually hurt the Bengals, who have one of the league’s smallest payrolls headed into 2011.

The Bengals used a second round pick on TCU quarterback Andy Dalton.

I recently speculated the Seahawks may be interested in former Vikings quarterback Tarvaris Jackson, and according to multiple sources, they are.

The root of uptick in speculation is courtesy of Tom Pellissero, here’s the tweet:

“Seahawks have done due diligence on Jackson. Heard from people with other teams that would like to work with him, too — but as a backup.”

As a communications major it’s kind of my duty to decipher what something means and there’s more then meets the eye here. The last part is paused and separated from the rest of the passage, “but as a backup”. That last part of the message is implying that other teams are viewing him as a backup and that them viewing him as a backup is a different view then the Seahawks have of him.

Just when I was laughing at Redskins fans for being stuck with John Beck. I hope Pete Carroll has the brains to go into training camp with something more compelling then a Clipboard Jesus vs. Tarvaris Jackson for the starting gig. Hell, I would rather have Vince Young then Tarvaris Jackson.

Mobility is something Carroll cherishes, but that’s about all Jackson brings to the table and he leaves much to be desired as a starting quarterback. He has one string of 88 completions in 2009 that went for a 9/2 TD/INT ratio and a CMP % slightly below 60. Besides that he has a career 15/20 TD/INT ratio a CMP % below 58 and a 72.3 career QBR.

Not exactly stuff that screams “playoff run” even in the NFC West.

The more ideal scenario would be to resign Matt Hasselbeck or acquire Carson Palmer and have Charlie Whitehurst and Tarvaris Jackson battle it out for the No. 2 position. I just don’t see money being prohibitive when it comes to pursuing a starter and I think Pete Carroll will have truly lost his marbles if he believes Tarvaris Jackson is his answer to another NFC West title not to mention improving upon last years finish would entail an NFC Championship game berth; he is not leading us to the NFC Title game when he could even lead an Adrian Peterson/Steve Hutchinson led rushing attack past the wild card round.

I apologize if I am overtly ripping on Jackson, but I see him as a fine backup capable of giving your team a short term boost with his scrambling ability in light of an inevitable Hasselbeck injury, not a starting quarterback.

Buccaneers cornerback Aqib Talib’s trial on assault with a deadly weapon charges will not take place until March of 2012, Rick Stroud of the St. Petersburg Times reports.

It is the position of the NFL that violations of Commissioner Roger Goodell’s personal conduct policy during the lockout will be enforceable, a stance the NFL Players Association intends to challenge. Goodell does have a history of allowing the legal process to play itself out before handing down discipline, which means Talib will likely be available to the Buccaneers for all 16 games this season. (Provided there are 16 games this season)

The 25-year-old Talib is a Pro Bowl-caliber cornerback, totaling 127 tackles, 15 interceptions, and 35 passes defensed in 41 career games since being chosen with the 20th overall pick of the 2008 NFL Draft out of Kansas.

$1.0563 million guarantee on Talib’s $1,563 million base salary next season is fully guaranteed.

Titans wide receiver Kenny Britt surrendered to Metro police in Nashville, Jim Wyatt of The Tennessean reports.

Britt faces charges of making false statements on a driver’s license application on two occasions and was released on $2,000 bond.

“We are on track to get this thing resolved,” said Jonathan Farmer, Britt's attorney. “He is here in town to deal with this issue and is looking forward to putting it behind him.”

The New Jersey native has frequently run afoul of the law, particularly testing the limits of the league’s personal conduct policy during the lockout. The 22-year-old has a court date in Hoboken on July 12, and his court date in Tennessee has been scheduled for July 18th.

Adam Caplan of FOXSports.com reports than an unidentified AFC team has been “very aggressively” sending playbooks to its players recently, which would be a clear violation of NFL rules during the lockout.

While exceptions have been made for charity events and ring ceremonies, NFL teams have not been allowed to contact players during the lockout. Contact was permitted during the day or so the lockout was lifted in late April, and teams took advantage by distributing playbooks and contacting key free agents they hope to retain.

It would be naive to think that coaches and players haven’t found ways to communicate with one another during the lockout, and reports of these “forbidden communications” are nothing new. But to send playbooks to players during this stage of the labor talks borders on reckless behavior. The league will surely investigate this matter and, if guilty, hand down a hefty fine to the head coach and team, and possibly take away draft picks.