Projected CFL #1 pick to join Green Bay Packers for rookie minicamp

Wyoming linebacker Connor Shay will likely be a first-round pick before he wears a Packers practice uniform next weekend

According to Zach Jacobson of Packer Report, Wyoming linebacker Connor Shay has accepted an invitation to participate in the Green Bay Packers’ rookie minicamp. While this doesn’t mean that Shay has signed with the Packers, it does mean that he will work out with the team for a week. Generally, Green Bay tends to pick up a couple of undrafted rookie free agent signings following their stints with the team in rookie minicamp.

Linebacker is an interesting position for the Packers, who only roster six players at the position on their 91-man offseason roster — and that’s including undrafted rookie Jamon Dumas-Johnson. Earlier this offseason, general manager Brian Gutekunst talked about the struggles the team faced while rostering only five off-ball linebackers last season. At a minimum, the team will keep five. They probably want to keep six. Only rostering six, at the moment, leaves them little to no wiggle room — especially if they want to sit their starters in the preseason.

Here’s the interesting spin on Shay: His father was born in Canada, allowing the younger Shay to qualify for Canadian citizenship. This has made him a high-value target for the Canadian Football League, which has limits on how many non-Canadians can be on the roster or on the field at the same time.

John Hodge of 3DownNation, a website covering the CFL, wrote a mock draft this month where Shay was projected to go first overall in the 2025 CFL Draft, which will be hosted next Tuesday. Hodge correctly predicted all but one of the 2024 CFL Draft’s first-round picks, for perspective.

So there’s a good chance that by next weekend, when the Packers’ rookie minicamp will occur, Shay will already be a CFL first-round pick — potentially the first player off the board to the Calgary Stampeders.

Shay was a one-year starter for the Cowboys and measured in at 6’1.5”, 227 pounds and ran a 4.58-second 40-yard dash at his pro day, according to The Athletic’s Dane Brugler. He also recorded an impressive 38.5” vertical jump.

The CFL begins training camp in early May, so he’ll have to decide on whether he wants to pursue a career in the NFL or the CFL shortly after Packers rookie minicamp, but Green Bay’s thin linebacker room presents a unique opportunity for Shay.

Shay isn’t the only player with Canadian ties who will be at the Packers’ rookie minicamp. The team is also bringing in Canadian quarterback Taylor Elgersma, who participated in the Senior Bowl and was brought in on a pre-draft visit to Green Bay, to the event.

To learn more about the Packers’ undrafted free agent signings and rookie minicamp invites, click HERE.