What are your thoughts on the idea of struggling teams renting players out to contenders for a season, then coming back to their original team. Is this a strategy that could be implemented ever?
My first thoughts are it’s not very different from older players getting traded somewhere else to ring chase, but I’m not sure if the players would be too keen on switching teams so often either.
This has only happened once. The 1964 Denver Broncos needed depth at QB, so they worked an unusual trade with the Houston Oilers. The Broncos sent a first round draft pick, and All Pro DT Bud McFaddin to Houston in exchange for backup QB Jacky Lee… for two years. Then Lee’s rights would revert back to Houston.
How did it work out? While passer rating hadn’t been invented yet, Lee’s rating ranked 8th in the 8 team AFL in 1964. (The Oakland Raiders has two QB’s ranked ahead of Lee; Buffalo’s Jack Kemp was the only starter ranked below Lee - and the Bills won the title that year.) The Broncos went 2-11-1. The following year, he only played 4 games. He went back to Houston in 1966 as a third string QB. He finished his career was a backup in Kansas City and won a Super Bowl ring in 1969.
McFaddin was 36 when he went to Houston. He played two years, though no longer as an All Star, and became an Oilers assistant coach when he retired.