[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: Tradeaholic at work!
4 new players, 1 departing and 1 rookie selected.

It was a very busy day in the draft war room today, I was working the metaphorical phones quite a bit and it ended up in missing out on some trade possibilities, yet striking three deals anyway.

The first deal is a straight up swap of cornerbacks with the Fort Wayne Fury and their freshly new owner/general manager. CB Donnie Dogins will leave us after 5 seasons of service, having been a starter the last 3 season after 2 seasons of waiting in the wings. Coming back is the one year younger, yet coming from the same draft class, CB Otis Hane. Where Dogins is primarily a zone defender, Hane is a more classic man to man and bump and run specialist, with outstanding interception skills and could be an improvement to our special teams unit as well. Sad to see Dogins go, I tried to hold off quite a bit, but I got persuaded after all.

The third deal was a swap of the 3.9 pick to the Orlando Talons for their 3rd round pick in 2106 and the 7.19 pick this draft. This will give 4 7th round picks this draft. Wait, isn't that against the plan to trim down on picks?

It got worse as we failed to get a trade of the 3.3 pick worked out in time, so with roughly 1 minute on the clock we selected P Mack Nelson. Yup, old fashioned reaching for a special teamer that might be potentially the best kid at his position. It worked out well recently with K Oscar Harrington. Nelson will have to impress in camp as just 2 seasons ago we picked Dana Louis late in the 6th round and that was already a choice to replace a punter on team.

Now on to the big bang, kind of, as we made a very uncharacteristic trade, sending no less than 6 draft picks in this class to the Atlanta Vipers for 3 veteran players. We'll be acquiring RB Broderick Levine, G Kenyon Helm and LB Damian Fletcher.

The least surprising one should be G Kenyon Helm as we had only 1 guard on roster and even if G Corwin Driver signs the offer we made him, Helm would likely be the better player and have to fight it out with our backup C Lincoln Stonge for a starting role.

LB Damian Fletcher is a 31-year old pass rusher. We might consider a swap to DE, but if not, he could be an upgrade to our front seven. Sure, at his age, it will be short term, but it felt like an opportunity we had to take.

RB Broderick Levine will be a challenge for the entire group of running backs. He's got what it takes to be a RB1 (power, speed, endurance, receiving hands, hole recognition). Levine failed for the Tucker Tigers, but as a 26-year old with 456 carries in his backpack, he should still be in his prime.

All this wheeling and dealing yanks our roster up to 53 players signed and 5 draft picks incoming. This doesn't yet include to potential signings of free agents that we offered contracts to. G Corwin Driver would be much desired, OLB Micah Halvorson a luxury. WLB Cody Ross of formerly Toronto is on our pursue list, as is QB Drew Daniels from Williamsburg. That would add things up to 62, which is a tad too much. But, we'll see how things will work out.