New Trier graduate Matt Kaskey, a Dartmouth College offensive lineman, had his NFL dream come true April 29, 2019.

Kaskey, a Wilmette native, signed a free agent contract with the Los Angeles Rams, giving him a chance to attend minicamp and hopefully earn a spot on the Rams’ 53-man roster.

“It wasn’t right after the draft (April 25-27), which was pretty unusual,” Kaskey said about the signing. “Usually teams fill up their free agent spots on the night of the third day of the draft. That didn’t happen for me.

“I got a couple minicamp invitations from some teams and was just working out on Monday, came back to my phone, saw I had a couple missed calls, so I called my agent and he told me the Rams signed me. That was pretty exciting news, pretty unexpected, which made it even better.”

There are two types of undrafted free agents: priority undrafted free agents and regular undrafted free agents. Priority UDFA’s are the ones usually signed right after the draft and those who have multiple options on which team to choose from. A regular undrafted free agent usually means that one team is looking to sign a player.

“It was super disappointing to not get a call right after the draft,” he said. “I was sitting there watching the last few rounds and then waiting by the phone after it drafted. I was kind of expecting to get a call and not getting one put me down in the dumps for a bit.

“It motivated me more.”

Along with the Rams, the Bills, Giants and Chargers showed interest in the 6-foot-7-inch, 325-pound lineman.

Rams training camp runs from July 25-Aug. 15 in Irvine, Calif. If Kaskey impresses during training camp this summer, his next hopes lie in making the team there. He’ll go down to Los Angeles on May 13 to take part in a rookie development program, which will last about seven weeks and then get ready for training camp.

“Everyone knows that the NFL is a league where you can get cut at any time,” he said. “I’ll be with them through training camp, barring any missteps, I’m hoping to be there until they have to make final decisions on the 53-man roster.”

The Rams are coming off of a 13-3 season that saw them make it to the Super Bowl, but fell just short against the New England Patriots. With only a handful of offensive linemen returning and the Rams only having drafted two linemen, there’s a chance that Kaskey — if he impresses at camp — can make the defending NFC champions roster.

“It’s super exciting to be going there because obviously they have a good thing going down there in L.A.,” Kaskey said. “They know what they’re doing. They’ve got a good offense, a good quarterback, good running back, offensive line, everything.

“What I’m most excited about is the experience of the offensive line. The tackles are Andrew Whitworth and Rob Havenstein and those guys are top tier offensive tackles who have been good for a long time. My favorite part about going to the Rams is being able to pick their brains and see what can workout there.”

After being part of the team’s last cuts right before the season, Kaskey was signed to the Carolina Panthers practice squad. After the Panthers released him in November, they re-signed him a couple weeks later and elevated Kaskey to the active roster December 21.