Diego Pavia, the former star quarterback at Vanderbilt who captivated fans en route to a Heisman runner-up last year, suffered another roadblock in his quest to play in the NFL. The Baltimore Ravens waived Pavia on Thursday, after he joined the team as an undrafted rookie free agent following April’s NFL Draft.
Pavia was on the losing end of a numbers crunch for the Ravens’ roster, as the team was forced to release one player to make room for offensive lineman Ethan Pocic, who signed with the team on Thursday.
With Pavia being let go, the Ravens still have four quarterbacks on their roster, highlighted by two-time MVP Lamar Jackson. Also on the QB depth chart are Tyler Huntley, who went 2-0 as a starter for Baltimore last year, Skylar Thompson, who’s made three starts in his NFL career, and fellow undrafted rookie Joe Fagnano.
It’s the last of those names which may surprise many, as the former UConn quarterback, Fagnano, kept his roster spot over Pavia. Fagnano had an impressive senior season at Connecticut last year, with an astounding 28-to-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio. However, that came at a school that played as an independent and had a weaker schedule, while Pavia starred in, arguably, the toughest conference in college football in the SEC.
With 3,539 passing yards and eight touchdowns, while adding another 862 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground, Pavia was named the 2025 SEC Offensive Player of the Year. He led the conference in passing touchdowns, completion percentage (70.6), yards per attempt (9.4), and passer rating (170.4). Under his leadership, the Commodores won a school-record 10 games, including wins over ranked teams like LSU, Missouri, and Tennessee.
For his efforts, Pavia was invited to the 2025 Heisman Trophy ceremony as one of the finalists. He ended up finishing second behind Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza, who ended up being drafted first overall by the Las Vegas Raiders. Former Ohio State RB Jeremiyah Love, who was also a first-round draft pick, and current Ohio State QB Julian Sayin were also among the five Heisman finalists. By not being drafted, Pavia became the first Heisman finalist in 12 years to not get selected in the NFL Draft.
Pavia had faced an uphill battle to make the NFL from the start, which played a role in his seeking an additional year of college eligibility before being turned down by the NCAA. He stands just 5-foot-10, and while there have been outliers like Russell Wilson, there is certainly not a rich history of sub-6-foot-tall quarterbacks having success in the NFL.
His age also didn’t help, as Pavia is already 24 years old. For comparison, he’s the same age as quarterbacks such as C.J. Stroud and Anthony Richardson, who are entering their fourth NFL seasons, and Pavia is actually a few months older than Richardson.
Finally, Pavia’s maturity and decision-making came into question shortly after the Heisman Trophy ceremony in December. After finishing in second place, he posted on social media an expletive-laden message toward the Heisman voters who didn’t support him and allow him to win the award.
This setback for Pavia doesn’t necessarily signal the end of the road and his dream to play in the NFL, as there are 31 other teams who could have interest in him. There have also been a number of notable and Hall of Fame quarterbacks who went undrafted, for various reasons, before latching onto a team and finding success. Warren Moon and Kurt Warner are two of them who currently reside in Canton, while others such as Tony Romo and Jeff Garcia had Pro Bowl careers.
Pavia being waived comes before the Ravens even officially started their 2026 training camp. That begins on July 24, in which rookies, injured players, and quarterbacks are scheduled to report to the Under Armour Performance Center in Owings Mills, Maryland. The rest of the team will then report on July 28.
Thus, Pavia’s release comes only via what the Ravens saw of him in mini-camp and, possibly, offseason organized team activities.
Baltimore is hoping that its current QB room, along with the rest of the roster, allows for a smooth transition from former coach John Harbaugh to first-year head coach Jesse Minter. The latter spent the last two years as the Los Angeles Chargers’ defensive coordinator under John Harbaugh’s brother, Jim Harbaugh.
But Minter also has ties to Baltimore, as he spent four seasons (2017–20) as a defensive assistant and then the defensive backs coach. He is inheriting a team with Super Bowl aspirations, despite the team not even making the playoffs last season. The Ravens are coming off an 8–9 season, which was just their sixth losing record since 2000.
Over the previous five times, the Ravens went at least .500 the following season each time, and made the postseason in four of those years.
