With the trade deadline steadily approaching, Bengals owner Mike Brown is dead-set that QB Carson Palmer will either play for the Bengals or stay retired. As many expected, that hasn’t changed.  Read more after the jump.

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With Tuesday’s trade deadline looming, even a potential trade that looks good on paper — one that could help the Bengals’ young roster — isn’t enough to budge Brown. But that doesn’t mean Palmer hasn’t been working behind the scenes.

“I don’t think (a trade is) going to happen,” NFL Network’s Michael Lombardi said on “NFL Total Access” on Friday. “But, I do know this: Carson Palmer has been in direct contact, himself, with Brown. Those phone calls have proven to be fruitless. … Each phone conversation they get further and further apart.”

Not that it mattered in Brown’s decision-making, but ultimately what the first five weeks of the season have provided is leverage. The Bengals are winning, and rookie QB Andy Dalton is balling. If the Bengals want to move Palmer, it will happen when Brown is good and ready.

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