Result of the CA contracts this. NSW can't afford to pay the contracts of six players who lost their CA contract, so a few guys need to move on. Interestingly Brett Lee refused a NSW contract because he didn't want to take the spot of a young player. He'll probably get the $190,000 CA retainer for playing enough ODIs/T20 games to qualify for that anyway, like Cowan and Bailey will.
As for Hughes, reckon it'll be a good move for him, if for no other reason than it gets him out of the spotlight of the Sydney press.