Don't know anything about Palmer's personality, so it's hard to say if he's a whiner or not. Think the guy just wants a chance to compete. I say why not? AC hasn't had serious competition for his job in years. Maybe a challenge from Palmer would be good for AC's game. In addition, the Als don't have an obvious candidate to succeed AC, and are always one hit away from disaster because of that. It would make management sense to groom a guy of Palmer's talent and them ease him into the starting job over the next couple of season's as AC's age catches up with him. Unless the Als have a QB plan we don't know about, to do nothing but rely solely on AC makes no sense.
I really dont think that Popp told him he is no chance to even compete.
Popp is to smart to think that AC is unbeatable for the starters job. Maybe a couple of years ago but not now!
I think Palmer wants to sit out this year and play in Ottawa next year!