By Mark Curnutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer

BENGALS POLL

March came in like a lion Monday when Marvin Lewis announced that Carson Palmer was the Bengals' starting quarterback.

Incumbent starter Jon Kitna, though he had one of the best seasons of any quarterback in franchise history, was made the sacrificial lamb.

"I thought long and hard about this," Lewis said of the decision.

Palmer, the first overall pick in the 2003 draft in whom the Bengals have invested a potential $49 million, spent Monday in San Diego playing in a benefit golf tournament.

"I still have a lot of work to do," he said. "It's definitely what I wanted."

Palmer's next regular season NFL snap will be his first. Kitna played every offensive down last year, and toward the end of the season, Palmer said he was disappointed that he had not played and that sitting all year was not expected.

"I'm leaps and bounds more comfortable compared to when I first came in," said Palmer, who will return March 15 to Cincinnati to prepare for the start of the offseason conditioning program March 22.

Lewis called Kitna to his office three-to-four weeks ago to tell him that Palmer would start.

"Obviously your feeling as a competitor is disappointment," said Kitna, who has one season remaining on a four-year contract. He confirmed that he and his agent, Michael Moye, have offered to extend his deal to try to help reduce the salary cap hit from his $3.375 million base pay for 2004.

Kitna pledged his support to Palmer but said his future was in God's hands. It's rumored the Bengals might look to trade Kitna, who's value is believed to be high, and re-sign Shane Matthews.

Lewis said the team has been talking to Matthews, an unrestricted free agent, about returning in 2004.

Even if he stays, Kitna said, "I hope I don't have to play another down for the Cincinnati Bengals." If Kitna plays again, he said, it would be only if Palmer were injured or the team were losing.

The timing of the announcement - the announcement itself was not unexpected - was newsworthy.

Lewis wants to give his team time to digest the change before players gather for the 14-week conditioning program. Palmer will get the starter's practice snaps with the offense in minicamps, coaching sessions in May and June and in training camp.

"Doing this now will give him the opportunity, just as Jon had last year, to take command of the offense from Day 1," offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski said.

Free agency begins Wednesday - with the draft to follow April 24-25 - and Lewis wants to build the team around Palmer's talents and inexperience. For example, team insiders have said the odds of veteran free agent Rich Braham re-signing might increase because coaches would not want to pair an unproven second-year quarterback with a young center.

"He's very, very talented," Lewis said of Palmer. "He's done nothing since we drafted him to disappoint any of us. We're excited about him, his future (and) his ability to help us offensively.

"It gives our football team . . . an identity of who we are as our coaches are beginning to plan for our '04 season."

Tight end Reggie Kelly, one of Kitna's closest friends on the team, was asked whether and how the timing of the announcement might help the offense.

"From a business standpoint, it's good that everything's out in the open early so there is no gray area," Kelly said.

Even if Palmer struggles - which is expected, given the history of first-year starters in the NFL - Lewis will not have a short leash. Nor will he be any less patient with Palmer than he was with Kitna in 2003. Lewis withstood calls to play Palmer after the Bengals started 0-3 and Kitna had thrown three touchdowns and five interceptions.

Asked if he would give Palmer a lot of rope, Lewis said, "My mindset is to win football games. We owe it to everybody in this building to win football games, and they both understand that."

Lewis was short on specifics as to why he made the switch, especially after Kitna led the Bengals to just the franchise's second non-losing season in the past 13 years.

"The one thing that Marvin said is that they wanted to try and throw the ball over the top of people more," Kitna said. "I just wish they had given me that opportunity because whenever we tried to throw the ball over the top of people, we were pretty successful. But the opportunities weren't as many as I would have liked, or as many as the guys on the team would have liked."

Palmer, at 6-foot-5, 230 pounds, has a stronger arm than Kitna. But Kitna refutes the label that he lacks adequate NFL arm strength. The Bengals clearly are looking for more big plays from the offense with Palmer, and Lewis - a former defensive coordinator - has said nothing intimidates a defense more than an offense that runs past the secondary and completes deep balls.

With the big plays that Palmer promises will come big mistakes. He threw four touchdown passes and as many interceptions in preseason.

The pressure will be on the defense and the rest of the team to compensate for what Lewis hopes is Palmer's short learning curve. Lewis mentioned that Bratkowski and quarterbacks coach Ken Zampese will have to come up with a scheme that makes Palmer successful.

"That's why today we had to do this," Lewis said. "This is where we are. Now, we have to shift some of the responsibility. Jon did a lot for us, and Carson is going to have to grow into that role."

Busy day

Also Monday, the Bengals:

• Terminated the contract of defensive tackle Oliver Gibson.

• Made tender offers to seven restricted free agents: tailback Rudi Johnson, kicker Shayne Graham, safety Kevin Kaesviharn, guard Victor Leyva, wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh, linebacker Riall Johnson and tight end Tony Stewart.

• Made tender offer to exclusive rights free agent Reggie Myles, a cornerback. ---

E-mail mcurnutte@enquirer.com

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