Three football players with Montana ties have free agent deals with NFL teams after the draft ended.
Boise State wide receiver Matt Miller of Helena signed with the Denver Broncos, Montana defensive end Zach Wagenmann of Missoula signed with the Arizona Cardinals and Montana State linebacker Alex Singleton signed with the Seattle Seahawks. Singleton is from Thousand Oaks, California.
Miller caught 244 catches for 3,049 yards and 29 touchdowns at Boise State, but his senior season was cut short by an ankle injury that required surgery. He holds the career receptions record but was 15 yards short of the receiving yardage record.
Soon after the draft ended on Saturday, Miller’s agent called to say he was still going to be a Bronco.
“Right colors, right name and, shoot, still pretty close to home,” Miller said. “I’m really excited to get out to Denver and start getting after it.”
Miller believes he’s back to pre-injury strength but still wants to regain some explosiveness. He leaves for Denver on Thursday where another Montana native, Brock Osweiler of Kalispell, is the backup quarterback.
Wagenmann was named the Big Sky Conference defensive player of the year after posting 17.5 sacks, 22.5 tackles for a loss and six forced fumbles as a senior. He holds UM’s record with 37.5 career sacks and was named to four All-America teams. A broken foot during pre-draft workouts may have hurt his draft stock.
The Cardinals were one of a handful of teams talking with Wagenmann on Saturday, his agent Noel LaMontagne said, and they offered him a three-year deal.
“I feel so lucky, so blessed just to have the opportunity to continue doing the thing I love,” Wagenmann said. “Just super excited to have a new home and a new team.”
Singleton led the Bobcats with 136 total tackles. He tallied 15 tackles for a loss, two interceptions, a fumble recovery and two blocked kicks.