[MIJB#19]

Merchantmen sign CB Jackie Richardson
Cornerback Jackie Richardson moves to the Maassluis Merchantmen. The highly touted free agent signed a 4-year contract worth $160M, with a $50M signing bonus. Richardson left the San Antonio Tidal Force after 6 seasons as their premier cornerback.

Fans of defensive football should be pleased. Signing Richardson means the Merchantmen can make a claim for having the best cornerback duo in the league with reigning Defensive Player of the Year Kirk Hitchcock already walking around. A unique duo? Perhaps, although the Merchantmen tried a stud cornerback duo before, with mixed results.

All the way back in 2019, the Merchantmen made a pair of trades that got them the exceptional duo of Randall Allen and Ben Greer together. The pass defense improved from 27th to 7th in yards allowed and went from 30th to middle of the pack in yards per attempt. The overall result didn't improve either, the Merchantmen finished with a 6-10 record for the third season in succession. The duo didn't last long as Greer ended his Hall of Fame worth career after just one season in Maassluis. Allen for 5 seasons.

In the 2026 season the Merchantmen made a blockbuster trade in week 4 of the regular season, acquiring Defensive Player of the Year linebacker Oliver Drake and shutdown cornerback Walt Wheatley from the Williamsburg Colonials. The plan was to team up Whatley with Thomas Nordbye, acquired through trade in the 2025 off-season. Coming in, the Merchantmen were aware of Nordbye's injury proneness and it turned out to be an issue, missing 9 games in his first two seasons, but in 2027 he finally played a full season together with Wheatley. But despite their apparent skills, they didn't visually imporve the already strong Merchantmen defense. In fact, the impressive 2028 campaign with just 211 points allowed came the season after Nordbye's inevitable retirement.

In the 2040 IHOF draft the Merchantmen selected Mark Crum with the #30 overall pick and in the 2041 off-season they traded their 2042 first round pick to the Minnesota Miners for 2039 first round pick Marc Pomato. The duo stuck together through the 2050 season. Some say they both peaked early. In the 2042 season, the Merchantmen ranked 1st in passing yards allowed both per game and per attempt, a sign of things going well. They were actually just a 10-6 wild card team and went one and done at the division winning Gothenburg Giants. Between 2040 and 2047, the Merchantmen did keep opponents below 300 points for the season, but the pass defense remained, although strong, not the best in the league like it was in 2042. Crum and Pomato both left after the 2050 season and immediately dropped from top10 to bottom8.

During the 2066 IHOF Bowl winning run, the Merchantmen were clicking on many levels, but the presence of cornerback Peter Tucker, one of the members of the Class of '64, and 2060 first round pick Leo Angus was part of the team's success and spectacular defense. The pass defense ranked 1st in yards per pass attempt allowed, the overall passing yards allowed number was much less impressive, a result of a lot of catch up games. With Tucker around and Angus eventually replaced by 2068 second round pick Tre Rice, the Merchantmen went up and down season to season between top three and middle of the pack in yards per pass attempt. Until Tucker retired and the pass defense plummeted to bottom8 status.

Kirk Hitchcock has previously been one half of a highly touted duo, as the #11 overall pick in the 2081 draft was accompanied by the #14 pick of that class Tre Poloski. Unlike Hitchcock, Poloski has struggled to live up to the first round pick status and was released in the 2087 off-season in a salary cap move, but part a result of his inability to return to his production of the 2082 and 2083 seasons. Despite all this, the Merchantmen never really stood out with this duo, even ranking 32nd in passing yards allowed in 2082 and more shockingly 32nd in the league in 2084 in yards per pass attempt allowed.

All in all, results from the past have no influence on what the future will bring, but the Merchantmen fans should know well that having a studly cornerback duo can do only so much for a team, from being improved in pass defense without more wins, to winning an IHOF Bowl, to ranking last in the league.