[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: The 2116 Off-Season begins

The 2116 season is on the horizon, but before we get there, we're expecting some waves and stormy weather on our journey. We made a far from unsurprising change in our staff, have a high number of retirements to handle and go into the off-season with our usual big figure voer the cap with a truckload of draft picks to work with. But first some other news.



WR Calvin Maxwell got induced into the IHOF Hall of Fame.

This has to sound like a no-brainer as Maxwell played 12 season for us, with 8 of those being a 1,000-yard receiver, with 5 of those seasons reaching 1,400+. When all was said and done, he ranked 2nd all-time for Merchantmen players in receiving yards, 4th in receptions and 5th in receiving touchdowns. On top of that, he ranks 1st in IHOF history in kick off return yards (amongst all 32 franchises) and 1st amongst Merchantmen players in special teams tackles. Sadly we had little succes winning games during Maxwell's tenure, as we made the playoffs just twice and won 1 division title (in 2104).



The off-season started with the no less than 5 retirement announcements.

RT Ivan Dole
Our 1st round pick 2104 was a day one starter and held on to being our right side offensive tackle for the full 12 seasons. From early on he was our best run blocker, most seasons being a guarantee for 30+ key run blocks. At the time of his retirement, he ranks 3rd all-time amongst Merchantmen player in key run blocks. Dole started in 189 regular season games and 6 playoffs games, missing just 3 throughout his career. His personal best season came in 2114 when he was picked as an All-IHOF second teamer with 40 key run blocks, 5 pancake blocks and just 5 sacks allowed. It wouldn't shock me if Dole ends up elected into the IHOF Hall of Fame.

DT Gabriel Morris
The #10 overall pick in the 2103 draft took the league by storm. As a rookie, Morris already recorded 6.5 sacks, but it turned out to be his highest number in 13 seasons of service in Maassluis. In 2014 Morris contributed with 24 hurries and 65 tackles, earning All-IHOF second team honors that season, but from there on the decline in production set in. Still, for 10 seasons straight, Morris was an undisputed starter and in 2113 and 2114 he stil got his fair share of playing time in rotation. Morris spent 2115 on the inactive roster, mentoring two promising rookies. His tenure in Maassluis and the IHOF at that ends after 188 regular season games played and 6 playoffs games.

S Craig Clancy
Picked up as an undrafted rookie, Clancy already was a starter in that 2104 season and remained to be in the big rotation across the secondary throughout. With 190 regular season and 6 playoffs games played for the Merchantmen, Clancy proved to be reliable and and undisputed member of the team.

QB Drake Bishop
Although initially a backup quarterback for the Harlem Apollos, after 5 seasons there, the once undrafted rookie was signed by the Maassluis Merchantmen. Although with a reputation of being excellent in avoiding interceptions, Bishop's role was clearly to be a backup with kick holding duties and later on as a mentor to the young prospects in Maassluis, like today's duo Harrison Singleton and Bart Tanner. Curiously, despite an 11-season tenure in Maassluis, Bishop wasn't undisputed as the kick holder of choice, occasionally sitting out games inactive as the punter of service took over the kick holding duties. As a result, Bishop walks away from football after a season with just 3 games played and remarkably coming short of 100 games for the Merchantmen with 89 regular season games and 4 playoffs games played.

LB Avery Distel
A 7th round pick in 2107, Distel was a longshot to make the team back them, turning out to be unable to make a true switch to defensive end. But despite those limitations, we threw him out there form time to time, even ignoring that he was a suitable passing downs linebacker as well with sufficient zone defense skills. Also being a member of the special teams unit, Distel was active in all games from mid-way into his rookie season, ending up at 135 regular season and 4 playoffs games played. His personal highlight may have been the 2109 season, when he lead the team with 6.5 sacks (which also is a sad testament to how dreadful the pass rush was that season).



Staff changes

Offensive coordinator Keegan Harper was hired by the Brooklyn Fightin' Bums as their new Head Coach. We considered this a blessing in disguise as I felt that Harper has somehow broken an offense that had been doing so well in 2114. As a replacement, we hired 38-year old Ryan Whalen, who prefers to play a Balanced style offense. Whalen was previously with the Orlando Talons, but they decided to fire Whalen after just 2 seasons.



Cap situation

We're heading into free agency and the draft with just 41 players signed, with 5 restricted free agents and DE Lonnie Wynn and RT Clayton Bernstein the obvious unrestricted free agents. We're $37M over the salary cap, with an expected cost of $41M of the 12 draft picks we're holding. But we've already gone through the first wave of renegotiations and are now at $69M under the salary cap.

Most notable is that we signed QB Harrison Singleton to a new 2-year deal. Apparently starting in the last 2 regular season games was enough to reconsider his angriness and made him willing extend his contract. Singleton now accounts for a $39M cap figure. QB Bart Tanner is again in the final year of contract and this time around is demanding a 5-year deal, averaging $47M per season, starting with a $36M cap figure this season. I'm skeptical and at the moment unsure whether I feel his worth that kind of money, especially on a 5-year contract. But it's "never in doubt" that he will holdout again in post draft free agency, so we'll have to make up our mind before the more logical pre-season's renegotiation wave.

So, that's where we're at. We've had one particular player that jumped up on our draft board as a worthy candidate for a top15 pick (we hold the #15 overall), but we have to keep in mind that although our staff is very good at scouting, their interviewing abilities are just 'good'. So, we'll see where that will bring us...