it's good to have $80M in the bank

Quarterback Carson Palmer no longer wants to play for the Cincinnati Bengals.  His reason is that he has $80M in the bank, and he doesn't want or need to come back.

How did he get $80M?  Palmer was the first player selected in the 2003 NFL Draft.  As a quarterback, he was viewed as the cornerstone of the Cincinnati football franchise.  His first contract was for 6 years, with the possibility of earning $49M through incentives.  After three years of that contract were completed, the Bengals rewarded Palmer with a contract extension making the new deal in 2006, a 9-year, $119M deal.

Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer

Palmer's comment at the time was, "Hopefully this is the last place I'll end up playing," Palmer said. "That's so rare in this league these days. It's so rare to see a person have a 5-, 8-, 10-, 12-year career in one place. And I feel very fortunate that it looks like that's going to be my future."

In the end, Palmer's Cincinnati teams have not lived up to the amount of money that was being spent on him.  It might be just as easy to pay someone a fraction of Palmer's salary and get similar results.