[MIJB#19]

Merchantmen sign 8 free agents to training camp roster
Following the 2091 IHOF Draft, the Maassluis Merchantmen have signed 8 players that were free agents. They re-sign tight end Renaldo Crawford and safety Chuck Murray, signed veteran safety Thomas Lucas and signed five undrafted rookies: fullback Tracy Rhodes, center Brady Burke and linebackers Van Bertolone, Trent Donovan and Trenton Prescott.

The re-signing of Crawford and Murray weren't much of a surprise. Merchantmen management already publicly stated they were willing to bring them back, at the very least for training camp to give them a chance to reclaim their roster spot after the drafting of respective replacements Clarence Gore and Devon Farrell. Both signed a new three-year deal, which should indicate the team actually thinks they are in their plans for the upcoming season and beyond. Especially given that both received a $500K signing bonus, which is very unusual for the Merchantmen to hand out to free agents post draft.

Safety Thomas Lucas signed a one-year veteran minimum contract. In a crowded secondary, it's most likely he'll be asked to mentor the youngsters for a while, meaning there's a modest chance he'll have a shot at making the 53-men roster.

Rookie fullback Tracy Rhodes was already on the Merchantmen radar during the draft. He's an underdeveloped run blocker, could possibly contribute to special teams, but isn't regarded as a talented runner or receiver. Most likely he'll get a chance to gain some experience and show he's an IHOF worthy player.

Center Brady Burke wasn't on the Merchantmen radar during the draft, but going onto the market to fill the roster up, the team decided to give a look at a couple of linemen, of whom Burke decided to sign in Maassluis. Team management thinks he's got a reasonable chance to unseat the unhappy Jared Labbe, who's been with the Merchantmen for 5 seasons, without seeing much playing time behind Butch Pearson, aside from special teams action in the 2088 season and a little bit last season.

The signing of the three linebackers doesn't come as a surprise, as the Merchantmen had only five on roster after the departure of Moe Iveans. Pass rusher Van Bertolone appears to be undersized to make a transition to defensive end, but the Merchantmen management feel they still wanted to give him a look in training camp. Trent Donovan might be slightly undersized, but he does seem to have the framework to make such a transition, or to stick as a blitzbacker. Lack of pass defense skills means the Merchantmen are seriously considering that switch, special teams experience is in Donovan's favor. Trenton Prescott is (also) too short to play defensive end, but has blitzbacker potential and like Donovan has special teams experience and is actually considered to have great potential there.

Merchantmen management also made a statement on losing out on the services of undrafted rookie longsnapper Keith Borders. General Manager M.IJ.B. stated "We knew there would be more interest, in particular from the usual suspects," hinting to the North Plainfield Plague who offered Borders a $1.6M sining bonus, "which in retrospect means we should have done the right thing and make Borders a market value offer". A bold statement to make, as the Merchantmen only signed their current longsnapper Bryce Karney last off-season and released their younger snapper Thomas Biegen to make the roster spot available, claiming Karney was the best guy in business available. Likewise, the Plague might consider to release their 34-year old longsnapper Dustin Cooksey, who is currently considered the best in business by the league's scouting department, as the Plague signed no less than 3 more undrafted rookies for tryouts in training camp for the longsnapper roster spot.

The Merchantmen also lost the bidding wars on rookie running back Matthew Reed (signed a $4M deal with Orlando), linebacker Salvador Moye (did get a $500K singing bonus from Williamsburg), veteran wide receiver Junior Filby (did get a $250K bonus from Oakland) and interior linemen Steve Myers (got a $370K bonus from Moontown) and Ian Cady (got a $4.57M deal from Rochester).