A veteran quarterback is on the way to Bengals camp, but it’s not Carson Palmer.
Bruce Gradkowski has agreed to a deal to play in Cincinnati, agent Rick Smith announced on Twitter.
At the moment, it would appear that Gradkowski has a decent chance of being the Bengals’ Week One starter. Palmer isn’t showing up any time soon if at all, and it may be tough to get rookie Andy Dalton up to speed in six weeks.
Gradkowski’s first two seasons in the league were in Tampa Bay, where he played for head coach Jon Gruden. Now he’ll play for Bengals offensive coordinator Jay Gruden, who was an offensive assistant during Gradkowski’s time in Tampa and runs a similar system to his brother.
Gradkowski played in six games for the Raiders last season and started four. He completed 83 of 157 passes for 1,059 yards, with five touchdowns and seven interceptions.