Is trading improved in 8 or 9
 

...because this might be a reason I'd consider either...I forgot how this sucks in this game (at least in my experience).

I haven't played FOF7 but I can tell you how it works in FOF9. Instead of negotiating with other teams, you make them an offer and they tell you right away what they'll give you or whether they'll do the trade at all. Same thing if you ask for one of their players: if they want to do the trade, you'll see what picks they'd like in return.

What this means is that you can't sweeten the pot, and you can't do player-for-player trades. Whatever you offer, the CPU will only ever offer picks in return, and may even request you throw in an extra pick. It's a little unconventional but I find it a lot smoother than trading in FOF8.

Another thing that changed: you no longer have a limit on "shopping" players. In FOF8 you essentially had to save scum when shopping around your players because if you asked too many times, teams would stop answering until you actually did a trade. 9 does away with that limit, so you can shop around players to your heart's content.

Appreciate the info. It sounds like "no" is answer. Sigh...I just don't get this guy's logic sometimes.

Can you offer a player for another player along with some draft picks?

No