Lending a Player to Another Team For a Specified Time

[Cali_Eagle]

I know QB Jacky Lee was loaned out in 1963 from the Houston Oilers to the Denver Broncos. He played 1964-65 seasons in Denver, then was returned to Houston. Wikipedia states that he was the only player ever to be "lend-leased" to another team. I recall reading somewhere (wish I could cite the source, but I don't recall it.) that Rudy Bukich was also "lend-leased" from the Chicago Bears to the Pittsburgh Steelers where he played in 1960 & 1961 then was returned to Chicago.
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Questions: What was the compensation that the Oilers received for Lee's services? Was Bukich really "lend-leased" or was that 2 separate trades or waiver deals? If he was, what compensation did the Bears receive? Is this still a legal practice in the NFL or has it been abolished? (2 teams could easily circumvent a league rule by agreeing on the QT to trade the player for low draft choice, then trade him back for the same low choice. So a ban makes little sense.) Finally, has it ever happened any other time besides this 1 or 2?

[Jay Z]

Jacky Lee was traded for Bud McFadin and a draft choice. That was for the two year lease.

[Cali_Eagle]

Jacky Lee was traded for Bud McFadin and a draft choice. That was for the two year lease.

Thank you for the info! Clears up part of it... still wondering about Bukich...

[JohnTurney]

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Was Bukich really "lend-leased" or was that 2 separate trades or waiver deals? If he was, what compensation did the Bears receive? Is this still a legal practice in the NFL or has it been abolished? (2 teams could easily circumvent a league rule by agreeing on the QT to trade the player for low draft choice, then trade him back for the same low choice. So a ban makes little sense.) Finally, has it ever happened any other time besides this 1 or 2?

In 1960 the Bears traded Bukich to the Steelers for a "undisclosed compensation" that turned out to be a
#1 pick in 1962 and 1963 if the Steelers wanted to keep him.

There was a rule put in place years earlier that a traded player could not be traded back to the team he was traded from
within two years.

In the 1960 Bukich deal, however, there was a verbal agreement that if the Steelers were not happy with Bukich they
could ship him back to the Bears . . . for a return of the 1962 #1 pick.

In Dec 1961 the Steelers (at the time of the draft) opted to keep the picks and sent Bukich back to
the Bears. In 1962 draft the Steelers took Bob Ferguson, and Bukich was a Bear.

The Cardinals found out about it and reported it to Rozelle (he also complained about the Bobby Mitchell - Was-Cle deal)
calling it "farming out".

It turned out that the rule was not a two-year rule--a player could not be traded back within a year and Halas knew it
and took advantage of it--details on that are fuzzy - I didn't take the time to do more searches - but think I got the broad strokes
people can look up the stuff if they want more..

In April 1962 the Bears sent Ed Brown to the Steelers for a #1 pick in the 1963 draft and "player to be named later"
which turned out to be (according to Pro Sports Transactions) a 2nd rounder in 1964 draft.

The trade was not nullified as the Cards brass wanted - because it seems Halas and Rooney worked the grey area.
The Steelers (Rooney, I suppose) said that Bukich served his purposes . . . and what's wrong with that...

The net effect appears to be:
The Bears get a 2nd round pick for Ed Brown and two years lost of Bukich's services.

[rhickok1109]

In 1951, the Packers "borrowed" QB Bobby Thomason from the Rams. The teams had agreed that, after his one-year trial in Green Bay, Thomason would either be returned to the Rams or the teams would work out a trade.
As it turned out, the Packers sent Thomason back to the Rams in 1952 and he was then traded by the Rams to the Eagles.