End of an era-Carson Palmer would rather retire than play another year with the Bengals. (US Presswire)

Bengals qyuarterback Carson Palmer made headlines in January by demanding to be traded, or he would retire.

And the Cincinnati Bengals franchise chose the latter: don’t let the door hit you on the way out, Carson. With four years left on his contract, the Bengals were unwilling to give into his demands, and were justified in their actions.

I can understand wanting to leave Cincinnati, considering the franchise has had on two winning seasons the past two decades, but Palmer made a four-plus year commitment to the team.

It goes to show you once again that sports at the professional level is no longer a team sport. Rather, players egos get the best of them, whether it’s being unhappy about the team”s performance and demanding a trade, upset with their multi-million dollar contracts, or upset with coaching staff.

Bengals owner Mike Brown stood firm, and told it like it was in his decision not to trade Palmer.

“Carson (Palmer) signed a contract. He made a commitment. He gave his word,” Brown told ESPN.com. “We relied on his word. We relied on his commitment. We expected him to perform here. He’s going to walk away from his commitment. We aren’t going to reward him for it.”

And rightfully so. I could also understand if he was in the last year of his contract, but the reality is he has four years left on his contract. He made a commitment to represent the organization, and like any other professional sport, it is a business. You can’t expect ownership to take on the daunting task of trading away a franchise quarterback with millions and millions left on a four-year contract.

Palmer is not getting any younger, and at 32, will either have to rejoin the Bengals or wait until he is 36. The Bengals have moved on, focusing on draft pick Andy Dalton and attempting to sign another veteran quarterback as a mentor, that being former Raiders quarterback Bruce Gradkowski.

Not only is Palmer acting selfishly, but with an incredible sense of entitlement as a professional athlete. Demanding a trade is one thing, but retiring if your demands are not met is detrimental because you are officially giving up on your teammates.

But with millions in the bank, Palmer can enjoy retirement. Brown wasn’t bluffing and is moving on. Will Carson move on? Or will he report to camp weeks later and give in?

Either way, he has already let his teammates and the organization down. Safe to say his ego will let him down as well. Enjoy retirement. Now the Bengals have lost Palmer and Chad Ochocinco.

The team is worse, but at least that’s two less entitled people with inflated egos to deal with.