Carson Palmer says he'll never play for the Cincinnati Bengals again and his house in the Cincinnati suburbs recently sold. One of his favorite targets said Thursday he doesn't doubt the quarterback won't play for the team again.

Chad Ochocinco, interviewed by "SportsCenter" on Thursday, said Palmer is a man of his word.

Ochocinco said that if Palmer comes out of character, and says he wants out or is going to retire, then the Bengals should listen to what he says.

"I know him really well. He will sit out, he will retire," Ochocinco said from the Atlanta Motor Speedway, where he rode in a car with Sprint Cup driver Jeff Burton. Ochocinco added that Palmer is "frustrated" and wants a "fresh start."

Bengals owner Mike Brown repeatedly has said this offseason that he won't trade Palmer. The quarterback hasn't publicly addressed his situation, but the team has acknowledged that Palmer has stated that he will retire if he is not traded or released.

According to reports in Cincinnati, Palmer recently sold his five-bedroom property on five acres in Indian Hill, Ohio, for approximately $1.9 million. He reportedly had been asking $2.1 million.

Ochocinco's future in Cincinnati isn't clear either. The Bengals hold a $6 million team option on him and it's uncertain whether he will play for them if there is a 2011 season.

The talkative receiver said he wasn't sure if he'll be back, but even if it's the end for him in Cincinnati, it won't mean his NFL career is over.

"There's no such thing as the end for me," he told ESPN. "Whether I'm in Cincinnati or whether I'm on one of the other 31 teams, I'm going to make it happen. They say the grass is not greener on the other side, but let me tell you, when I'm watering the grass it's going to be green."

Of course, Ochocinco, like all other NFL players, is in limbo with the league currently in a lockout. Ochocinco said he isn't optimistic the lockout will end in time for the 2011 season to start when scheduled.

"I think it's coming back," he told The Associated Press in a separate interview. "I don't think it's starting on time ... no matter what you are reading. No way."

He hasn't talked to Terrell Owens since Owens' ACL injury, but he told ESPN that he doesn't doubt that his teammate of last season will be able to return from the ACL tear -- even at the age of 37. Owens' agent, Drew Rosenhaus, told ESPN earlier this week that Dr. James Andrews, who performed the receiver's surgery in April, believes he can return to the field sometime in August.