During his tenure in Cincinnati, he helped lead the team to its first winning season and playoff appearance in 15 years and was named to two Pro Bowls.

Amid declining success and conflicts with Bengals ownership, Palmer was traded to the Oakland Raiders, where he played two seasons before joining Arizona.

His father, Bill Palmer, enrolled him in private classes in Orange County, where he was later taught by quarterback guru Bob Johnson.

[2] After a successful stint as a starter his junior year, Palmer received offers from USC, Notre Dame, Colorado, Miami (Florida), and reportedly San Diego State and Northern Arizona University (where his mother attended college).

[3] Palmer entered the University of Southern California in 1998, where he played for head coach Paul Hackett the first three years of his college career.

The Trojans won 10–0 against #9 Notre Dame in their regular season finale, with Palmer finishing with 14/32 completions, 188 passing yards, and his first career rushing touchdown.

[8] The very next week he led another comeback win against San Jose State, bringing USC back from a 12-point deficit in the fourth quarter.

[9] After 5 consecutive losses, he started in week 10 against Arizona State and end the game with 22 of 37 completions, for 279 passing yards, 2 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions in the double overtime victory.

[36] Palmer went into the Bengals' week 5 bye with statistics of 84–154 for 875 yards with only three passing touchdowns against 11 sacks, eight total turnovers (seven interceptions and a lost fumble), and three straight games with passer rating of less than 60.

"[51] On January 8, 2006, the Bengals met their division rival Pittsburgh in the first round of the AFC playoffs at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati.

Forty minutes later, a magnetic resonance imaging test revealed a severe injury, thought to be career-threatening at the time; Palmer had tears of both the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments as well as cartilage and meniscus damage, and a displaced kneecap.

After the Bengals' 48–17 pre-season victory over the visiting Green Bay Packers on August 28, 2006, which saw Palmer complete 9 of 14 passes for 140 yards and three touchdowns in just less than two quarters of play in his much-expected debut (which included an 11-yard run for a first down that culminated in a slide on his surgically repaired left knee), Palmer reiterated his position that he was to start in the Bengals' season opener at Kansas City.

ESPN analyst Joe Theismann, himself a former quarterback with the Washington Redskins (whose own career was ended by a gruesome broken leg against the New York Giants on November 18, 1985), praised Palmer for his mental toughness in taking hits and not being gun-shy about staying in the pocket where chances of injury are often high.

Unfortunately, his team suffered quite a few misfortunes, such as missed point afters and field goals, while slipping from an 11–5 record in 2005 to 8–8 in 2006 and failing to make the playoffs due to a game 16 loss against their rivals, the Pittsburgh Steelers.

[60] After winning the Pro Bowl MVP, Palmer declared, "This is a huge honor and extremely exciting and I feel very blessed just to be here, let alone for the outcome to be this.

[61] In the season opener on Monday Night Football against their divisional rival Baltimore Ravens, Palmer went 20 for 32 with 194 yards and two touchdowns in a 27–20 win.

Statistically, Carson improved from the previous year as his attempts, completion percentage, yardage and touchdown numbers all rose (although he did throw more interceptions as well).

[89][90] Cincinnati later used the picks to select Alabama cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick in 2012 and North Carolina running back Gio Bernard in 2013.

On October 23, Palmer came off the bench against the Kansas City Chiefs to relieve starting quarterback Kyle Boller who had thrown 3 interceptions and had the team down 21–0.

In his second start as a Raider during the Week 11 Thursday Night game against the division rival San Diego Chargers, Palmer showed further progress as he finished the game completing 14 of 20 passes for 299 yards and threw two touchdowns and a single interception for a quarterback rating of 125.0 in a 24–17 road win that ultimately gave the Raiders the lead in the division.

Returning from the bye week, Palmer and the Raiders traveled down south to face the Atlanta Falcons who were undefeated against AFC opponents.

The Raiders got off to a good start with Palmer looking very sharp with 23 of 33 for 353 yards and a touchdown, but he also threw an interception as the Falcons completed the comeback drive to win 23–20.

This win over the Jacksonville Jaguars ended Carson Palmer's interception streak through the first 9 games of his season (not including the bye week).

[115][116] During Week 16, while he threw four interceptions, two to Richard Sherman, he was able to rally the Cardinals to a 17–10 victory over the Seattle Seahawks, who had a perfect home record for the last two years.

He missed the next three games, in which backup Drew Stanton won against the New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers and lost to the Denver Broncos.

Upon his return the Cardinals went on to win five games in a row and remain the top seed in the NFC, with Palmer throwing 11 touchdowns to just 3 interceptions.

[123] Many in the sports world considered Palmer a candidate for the NFL's 2015 MVP award, along with Tom Brady, Russell Wilson, and eventual winner Cam Newton.

[125] Palmer set a franchise record with the Cardinals against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 14, throwing his 31st touchdown, passing Kurt Warner.

[136] During Week 7 against the Los Angeles Rams at Twickenham Stadium, Palmer had 122 passing yards and an interception until leaving the game with a left arm injury.

[55] Coincidentally, the teammate who caught his pass when he first injured his knee, Chris Henry, also donated several organs following his death in a 2009 auto accident.