Wednesday 20th February
Surprise! Austria trades offensive mainstays for youth

By Jason Compton
FWL.org.uk

Vienna (AP) – Meet the new boss—same as the old boss?

In his first two moves at the head of the Dark Knights franchise, GM Jason Compton has demonstrated a willingness to embrace the lessons of predecessor and long-time tormentor Mario Kreiner in engineering youth-friendly trades.

The Dark Knights part ways today with two of their tenured offensive leaders—stalwart tight end Ben Watson, and the league's leading active receiver, Matthew Hatchette, just 93 yards away from becoming only the seventh FWL receiver to reach 10,000 yards. The pair was traded to the NY/NJ Knights in exchange for this year's second-round pick (#23 overall) as well as NY/NJ's third-round pick in Season 20. A variation of the deal had been initiated by previous management.

In a related move, the Dark Knights sent third, fifth, and seventh round draft picks this year to the rebuilding Barcelona Dragons for explosive young wideout Jamel Broussard. Broussard seems certain to have a level chance of playing a starting role with the team this year, but might be advised not to get too comfortable in Austria if the youth movement is here to stay.

Hatchette refused comment, as he has since rumors of a trade began. His agent responded to an e-mail saying, "It is a shame that the Austrian fans will be robbed of their chance to see Matthew reach 10,000 yards and 750 receptions this year, but we have great confidence that the people of New York will appreciate what he brings to the team."

One FWL front-office staffer with experience in the Monarchs organization during Compton's reign expressed shock at the move. "Amazing. He kept [FWL second all-time leading receiver] Toderick Malone on the roster well past his sell-by date, and years past the peak of his value, when a trade could have pushed the Monarchs over the hump," the source said. "Makes you wonder what could have been for the long-suffering fans in London."

Reaction on unofficial team fansite "Ernie Short's Army" was mixed. One anonymous poster expressed support for the move, lauding the team's move back into the second round of the draft and replacing Hatchette with a capable young receiver. Another poster, identified only as "KnoxMonico81", wrote of his grave disappointment in the new management for cutting ties with team linchpins. "When this team goes 3-11 I think we will all know who to blame," the poster said.

The Dark Knights may not be done dealing yet—the team's three open roster slots are tailor-made for the three first-round draft picks in hand, but with seven additional picks on the slate, some more veterans look certain to be cut, traded, or not given a training camp invite. Veteran starting quarterback Curt Anes should feel safe, if for no other reason than a firm glut of pivot talent on the league's rosters. The team's overloaded offensive line corps and logjam at kicker seem likely to be resolved one way or another soon.