Could the San Diego Chargers and New York Jets solve their contract disputes by trading their headaches for each other? Maybe!
What goes into an NFL trade?
It's a question I feel like I'm answering all the time. Every time someone says "The San Diego Chargers should trade Donald Butler, he's a bum" it's up to me to tell them why it's not quite as simple as sending one player to another team in exchange for another player or picks.
Typically, there's very little difference between releasing a player and trading a player.