It looks like the Cincinnati Bengals were a little impressed with the play of Carson Palmer this year. They made it pretty clear that they want him to be in a Bengals' uniform for the rest of his career when they agreed to a six-year extension worth $118.75 million. Now, Palmer's contract will last until 2014.

"Hopefully this is the last place I'll end up playing," Palmer said. "That's so rare in this league these days. It's so rare to see a person have a 5-, 8-, 10-, 12-year career in one place. And I feel very fortunate that it looks like that's going to be my future."

Palmer, a former Heisman Trophy winner in college, was the Bengals' first pick in the 2003 draft. He didn't play that entire season, learning behind veteran QB Jon Kitna. He did fairly well in his first full season in 2004, but was unbelievable in 2005. Palmer has finally turned the Bengals into a winning team, and even got them a division title win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

"Carson does not change," said Bengals' head coach Marvin Lewis. "That's been the best part of Carson Palmer, from the first time I met him through all of the time spent with him prior to the draft."

Palmer's agent, David Dunn, was on ESPN GameNight on Thursday to discuss the deal. He said that it wasn't just about the money for Palmer, so they re-worked the deal in a way that the Bengals could spend money on free-agent veterans throughout the next few years.

"It's a very wise move for a team to wrap up the players that they have identified as critical to the franchise's success," Dunn said. "Once you wrap them up, it's far easier to plan."

Almost the entire Bengals offense is locked up contract-wise at the moment. The only thing remaining is some of their offensive lineman.

"That was my main concern, something that could help us out in the future," Palmer said. "Hopefully we can keep those guys around. Hopefully some of those guys up front want to stick around for a while. We know what we've got and we can build around this core group of guys."

The Bengals will face the Kansas City Chiefs this week in what may be considered an important game. If they lose, the New England Patriots can take the third seed with a victory over the Miami Dolphins.