No, you're completely right. How many times do you look on the back of the box of a sports game and see, "New Franchise features with realistic trades!"
Still, from what I've seen and discussed, they don't go always untouched. I know that wasn't the case here and in a few other games.
Edit - Guys, let's not try and go too far off track. I don't want to have to lock the thread because we have gone very off-topic as it is.