This all makes me wonder if Doug Whaley would possible trade a player that is on the bubble to say San Fran for a bag of peanuts just to keep said player out of the AFC/ AFC East? Think about it... Let's say Hogan is the odd man out, but just barely. Why wouldn't Doug trade him for a guy straight up that he doesn't really want, and thinks is bad, just so he can cut the new guy and not have to deal with Hogan being in the division? I think it's a good way to purge the team of good players without helping the competition.
It should be pretty easy to find a trading partner that wants a good player for nothing.