Diego Pavia is a Baltimore Raven.
Sort of.
The former Vanderbilt football quarterback and 2025 Heisman runner-up wasn’t picked in the 2026 NFL Draft but accepted an invitation to the Ravens‘ rookie minicamp, which will be held May 1-3.
Pavia is the first Heisman finalist to go undrafted since Northern Illinois quarterback Jordan Lynch wasn’t picked in the 2014 NFL Draft.
Some suggest Pavia’s height − 5-foot-10 − made teams hesitant to pick him, while others say his lack of arm strength is the reason.
The Tennessean’s 2025 Sportsperson of the Year made a few headlines off the field, too, most notably when he criticized Heisman voters on Instagram.
So what is next for Pavia at Ravens rookie minicamp, and what does this all mean?
Undrafted free agents sign three-year contracts, usually for the league minimum, that give them a good chance at participating in a team’s training camp and the preseason as they compete for a spot on the 53-man roster.
Rookie training camp invitees are not signed to contracts, but instead allowed the opportunity to participate in what is basically a tryout that lasts two to three days, during which time they try to sign as undrafted free agents and land a spot on a team’s training camp roster. Very few invitees end up signing.
Former UConn quarterback Joe Fagnano, who is 25, also will be at the Ravens’ rookie minicamp. Faganano completed 285 of 413 pass attempts for 3,448 yards and 28 touchdowns and one interception last season, when he averaged 287.3 yards per game.
In 2025, Pavia, 24, was 267-for-378 passing for 3,539 yards and an SEC-best 29 touchdowns while also leading the conference in quarterback rating (170.4) passing % (70.6), yards gained per pass attempt (9.4) and adjusted yards gained per pass attempt (9.94). He also ran for 862 yards and 10 touchdowns.
In two seasons at Vanderbilt, Pavia was 444-for-676 for 5,832 yards and 49 touchdowns and 12 interceptions passing in 26 career games. He ran for 1,663 yards and 18 touchdowns.
Paul Skrbina is a sports enterprise reporter covering the Predators, Titans, Nashville SC, local colleges and local sports for The Tennessean. Reach him at [email protected] and on the X platform (formerly known as Twitter) @paulskrbina.
