Kevin O'Connell threw two interceptions in Friday's exhibition game against the Redskins.

Journal photo / Mary Murphy

Monday is the deadline for all NFL teams to trim their rosters from a training-camp maximum of 80 players to 75, and typically there are very few surprises among those cuts, as they tend to be longshot players.

But on Sunday, news broke that the Patriots had informed quarterback Kevin O’Connell that he would be released. The Boston Globe was first to announce the move.

There was nothing official announced by the team as of 8 p.m.

The move is a bit of a bombshell –– O’Connell was initially slated to be Tom Brady’s primary backup this season, and the team spent a third-round draft pick (94th overall) on him just last year. But there were indications that O’Connell was more of a pet project for former New England offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, now with Denver, who went to California to work out the former San Diego State standout during the pre-draft process.

O’Connell has struggled throughout training camp and was intercepted twice by the Redskins on Friday night.

At the moment, it certainly looks like a good sign for Andrew Walter, the former Raider who was signed a few days into camp after being released by Oakland.

The Patriots also have undrafted rookie Brian Hoyer at the position, but again, he has little experience with the New England offense. Matt Cassel and Matt Gutierrez, the most recent understudies to Brady with O’Connell, are now both with Kansas City.

Without anything announced yet, and since it is believed that O’Connell won’t officially be released until Monday, it is possible that New England floated the news to see if there is a trade market for O’Connell.

There are also several veteran quarterbacks whom the Pats could acquire via trade, among them the Eagles’ A.J. Feeley, the Chiefs’ Tyler Thigpen and Tampa Bay’s Luke McCown.

smanza@projo.com