Seahawks sign O’Connell as undrafted free agent
Montana linebacker Patrick O'Connell (58) motions to the crowd to make some noise in the first quarter against Idaho at Washington-Grizzly Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 15. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Patrick O’Connell, the standout linebacker for the Montana Grizzlies, signed a free agent contract with the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday.
The Kalispell native and Glacier High product had a banner career for the Griz, finishing with 242 tackles, 28.5 sacks and 45 tackles for loss in 40 games from 2019-22.
The 6-foot-2, 235-pounder also picked off two passes last season, then made a strong showing in the Hula Bowl in January — lending confidence that he might be a late-round pick in the NFL Draft, which concluded Saturday.
Instead he’s a free agent signee with the Seahawks, who went 9-8 this past season and on Saturday signed not just O’Connell but Montana State safety Ty Okada and Bobcat cornerback James Campbell.
The Big Sky Conference saw one player get drafted: Marte Mapu, a Sacramento State safety and the league’s reigning defensive player of the year, was the 76th overall pick (third round) to New England on Friday.
O’Connell’s numbers from Montana’s Pro Day on April 4 compared favorably with a pair of linebackers invited to the NFL Combine: Iowa’s Jack Campbell and Vanderbilt’s Anfernee Orji. Campbell ran the same 40 time, 4.65 seconds, and was the only backer faster than O’Connell in the 20-yard shuttle and the L-Drill. He also went in the first round on Thursday, drafted 18th overall by Detroit.
Orji, who was the only linebacker with a higher vertical leap than O’Connell, went undrafted and signed with New Orleans Saturday.
Okada also had an impressive pro day at MSU on April 5, unleashing a vertical of 40.5 inches to go with 16 reps in the 225-pound bench press, a 4.44 time in the 40 and a broad jump of 10-9. Only Pittsburgh’s Brandon Hill (seventh round to Pittsburgh) was faster in the 40 at the NFL Combine; only Illinois’ Jartavius Martin (47th overall to Washington) had better marks in both the vertical and broad jump.
James Campbell turned heads with his 4.44-second 40 and 37-inch vertical.
Bobcat linebacker Callahan O’Reilly had a 37.5-inch vertical and 24 reps on the bench; he received a minicamp invite from the Chicago Bears.