While most of the NFL world is entrenched in the ongoing battle between the players and owners, there’s a more personal battle going on in Cincinnati right now between one player and one owner.

Carson Palmer wants to be traded from the Bengals or vows to retire. But Cincinnati owner Mike Brown reiterated on Monday night that his quarterback is not available and does “not see equal value” on the trade market.

“I want him back,” Brown said. “I haven’t talked to any other team about him. I have no plans to trade him.”

Things can obviously change in a hurry in the NFL. One minute a team says they have no desire to trade a player, the next minute said player is on a plane heading for a new destination. But Brown seems serious in his desire not to trade the 31-year-old starter, even though the draft is coming up in a little over a month. One would think that if the Bengals were to trade Palmer once the CBA mess clears up, they would need to draft a signal caller in one of the first three rounds next month.

If they do draft a quarterback, Missouri’s Blaine Gabbert would be a logical choice at No. 4 and Florida State’s Christian Ponder is an option in the second round. In fact, Ponder might be a better overall fit for Jay Gruden’s West Coast Offense because his best attribute is his accuracy, which is an obvious requirement for a WCO quarterback.

No matter which direction Brown chooses, he better have a game plan. Because if Palmer sticks to his guns and retires and the Bengals go into the 2011 season with Jordan Palmer, they’re going to be in some serious trouble.

Quarterback Matt Ryan doesn’t do much tweeting (which the Falcons are probably thankful for given how much trouble athletes seem to find on Twitter), so it was somewhat surprising to see what he said on Monday about friend Carson Palmer.

Carson Palmer and I are really good friends, I wonder which team he’ll be playing for next year, certainly won’t be the Bengals

Ryan certainly isn’t breaking news here. Since requesting a trade in late January, Palmer has been steadfast in his desire not to return to the Bengals next season, even going as far as to say that he’ll retire then play another down for Cincinnati. President Mike Brown insists that he won’t trade the eight-year veteran, but even his coach Marvin Lewis believes that Palmer will play elsewhere in 2011.

Still, it’s interesting to see a “really good friend” and someone (I assume) with knowledge of the situation say that Palmer won’t be back with the Bengals next year. Again, Ryan doesn’t tweet much so for him to write something with so much certainty is interesting. (Of course, Ryan could just be basing his assumptions on what everyone else has been reporting about Palmer over the past two months.)

The Panthers, Bills, Titans, 49ers, Redskins, Vikings and Seahawks are all in the market for a quarterback and might pursue Palmer if the owners and players can ever agree on a CBA. Seattle would seem like a logical fit given Palmer’s connection to his former USC head coach Pete Carroll.

One unnamed NFL GM tells CBS Sports that head coach Marvin Lewis “knows” that quarterback Carson Palmer won’t play for the Bengals next season.

Essentially, the question is this: Can [Lewis] convince Brown to deal Palmer for draft picks, players or both to get something of value this season? Most people believe he cannot, and that was reiterated by our GM who said he’s certain Cincinnati won’t budge on Palmer because of what it would mean for others.

But he also said that if Palmer is true to his word and retires it might increase his value for 2012, with teams believing that if he has that much of a conviction, is that disciplined, is that true to himself, then he’s exactly the sort of quarterback they’d like as a leader.

“He can still play, and he can still play at a high level,” the GM said.

It’s kind of a moot point to talk about potential trades seeing as how we’re in the middle of a lockout but this Palmer situation won’t die down. Making matters more complex is that if the Bengals were willing to trade him, it would make sense to do so before the draft. But since teams can’t make trades right now, the Bengals are stuck.

It cannot be overstated: the Bengals have a mess on their hands here. Brown doesn’t want to set a precedent for other disgruntled players to follow Palmer and demand trades just because they want out of Cincinnati. But if Palmer follows through and retires, then obviously the best recourse for the Bengals is to trade him in order to get something in return. And if Lewis knows that Palmer doesn’t want to be his quarterback, then I would have to assume that he wants someone else in place who does.

For now, at least the Bengals have plenty of time on their hands to figure out what they want to do with Palmer. Because there doesn’t appear to be a quick resolution to the labor mess.