Diego Pavia was given a brief chance to make the NFL with the Baltimore Ravens, but they didn’t keep him around long.
And since the Ravens cut the Vanderbilt QB legend, Pavia hasn’t gotten another chance at the highest level of football.
He instead appears to be considering alternative options to prove himself as a professional quarterback.
In a new post on social media, Pavia provided some up-to-date details on his career.
Pavia appears to be aiming to make a name for himself first in the UFL.
This is what Pavia posted on X on Tuesday evening:
appreciate everyone reaching out with everything on my career. my agent @malkikawa and the UFL are currently in negotiations to make this happen! whatever team I end up at, I can promise you one thing- You will get everything I got 💯
— Diego Pavia (@diegopavia02) October 21, 2026
Pavia had previously shared a post on his Instagram Story that claimed that “politics” were the reason he wasn’t in the NFL right now.
Presumably he isn’t referring to government politics but rather the methods by which teams figure out who they want in their building and in their locker room.
Regardless, it looks like Pavia is pivoting.
The UFL is an alternate professional football league that plays in the spring so as not to overlap with the NFL.
Some UFL players have gone on to make NFL rosters, and the NFL has a decent history of minor league quarterbacks eventually working their way into the top level — not necessarily as stars, but as reliable depth chart pieces.
Pavia still has a long way to go, but it’ll be fascinating to see how he plays in the UFL. And it’ll likely be a boost for that league, too, which should get more eyes on it whenever Pavia is playing.
The Ravens didn’t keep Pavia after signing him as an undrafted free agent, opting to keep fellow rookie Joe Fagnano behind Lamar Jackson and Tyler Huntley.
Apparently the 31 other NFL teams also didn’t want Pavia.
He isn’t particularly tall, and his arm talent isn’t through the roof. His Vandy success, at least viewed through an NFL lens, came through moxie and physicality and athleticism — but potentially in ways that don’t translate to the league.
Pavia’s task in the UFL will be to show that his game can work at the professional level, too. And if he does that there, maybe he’ll get another chance in the NFL.
Billy Heyen Billy Heyen is a Heavy contributor with focus on the NFL and MLB. He is a 2019 graduate of Syracuse University who spent his senior year following Jim Boeheim’s basketball team around the country. His reporting work has also included extensive work for The Sporting News, the Sandusky Register and Rochester’s Democrat & Chronicle. Adventures in sports writing have also led to in-person coverage of the Buffalo Sabres, Cleveland Guardians, U.S. men’s national soccer team and a variety of minor league baseball stories. More about Billy Heyen
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