[MIJB#19]

Merchantmen trade Stuckey, release three others
The Maassluis Merchantmen have announced their 53-men roster for the 2091 regular season. Biggest decision is the trade of their 2090 second round pick George Stuckey to the Moontown Darksiders. But the journey also ends for quarterback Bert Martin, running back Patrick Joseph and wide receiver Trey Samuels. At the other side of the ball, Trent Donovan surprisingly did make the cut.

George Stuckey and the Merchantmen, it hasn't been a fruitful partnership. At the time of the selection of Stuckey, the Merchantmen felt it was a good move, grabbing one of the best players left in the pool of rookies at a need position. The result has been the opposite as Stuckey was kept inactive all season long. The outlook for the 2091 wasn't great for him again with the arrival of a new second round pick in rookie Rickey Lyle. The Moontown Darksiders had shown interest in Stuckey throughout the off-season and a move back to a team based in the USA seems to be the best for all involved.

Fellow wide receiver and 2090 draft pick Trey Samuels also left Maassluis, but he'll be released. The Merchantmen thought they saw upside in the former running back by moving him to a wide receiver, but despite his receiving skills and potential, he never convinced management and the staff to make the active roster. As a result, Samuels sat out the 2090 season inactive and was a prime suspect to get axed come cutdown.

Joining Samuels to the free agent market are sixth and seventh round picks running back Patrick Joseph and quarterback Bert Martin. Both had a shot at making the team as the fourth running back and third quarterback respectively, but Martin lost to fifth year veteran Francisco Farley and Joseph to fellow rookie Trey Beyer. The rookie running backs were supposed to split carries in the last two pre-season games, but the Merchantmen coaching staff decided to keep them off the field as much as possible. The same basically applied to Martin, who was on the field for just 11 pass attempts combined over 2 games.