Diego Pavia: Why Every Football Fan in America Is Suddenly Talking About Him Again

Here's everything you need to know about who Diego Pavia is, why he's trending right now, and what could come next for him.

The Big News: Ravens Waive Diego Pavia

On Thursday, July 23, 2026, the Baltimore Ravens waived rookie quarterback Diego Pavia, just one day before rookies were due to report for training camp. The move came so the team could make room on its 90-man roster for veteran center Ethan Pocic.

Pavia had signed with Baltimore as an undrafted free agent back in April, hoping to compete for the No. 3 quarterback job behind two-time NFL MVP Lamar Jackson and veteran backup Tyler Huntley. That competition ultimately came down to two other players — veteran Skylar Thompson and undrafted rookie Joe Fagnano out of Connecticut — leaving Pavia on the outside looking in.

It's a tough break, but not exactly a shocking one. With Jackson entrenched as the starter and Huntley freshly re-signed, Baltimore was widely expected to keep only two quarterbacks on its 53-man roster, making Pavia's path to a spot an uphill climb from the start.

Who Is Diego Pavia?

If you're just now hearing the name, here's the short version: Diego Pavia is one of the great underdog stories in modern college football.

He grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and came out of Volcano Vista High School with zero Division I scholarship offers. Instead of giving up on football, he bet on himself, turning down a wrestling scholarship to play junior college ball at New Mexico Military Institute, where he helped lead the program to a national championship.

From there, his journey took him to New Mexico State, where under head coach Jerry Kill he helped engineer one of the most memorable turnarounds in the sport — including an upset win over Auburn — and earned Conference USA Offensive Player of the Year honors in 2023.

That breakout performance opened the door to the SEC. Pavia transferred to Vanderbilt ahead of the 2024 season and immediately changed the trajectory of a program that hadn't posted a winning season since 2013. In two seasons in Nashville, he:

• Led Vanderbilt to back-to-back winning seasons
• Delivered the program's first-ever 10-win season
• Set single-season school records for passing yards (3,539) and passing touchdowns (29)
• Racked up 4,018 yards of total offense and 36 total touchdowns in his final season
• Led the entire SEC in pass efficiency, completion percentage, and touchdown passes

That senior season was enough to make him a Heisman Trophy finalist, and he ultimately finished as the runner-up to Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza in the closest kind of race — falling short by fewer than 100 first-place votes.

Undersized, Undrafted, Unbothered

At roughly 5-foot-10 and 203 pounds, Pavia never fit the prototypical measurables NFL teams look for at quarterback. Despite finishing runner-up for the sport's most prestigious individual award, he went undrafted in the 2026 NFL Draft — becoming the first Heisman finalist to go undrafted since 2014.

It's a reminder of how much the NFL still values size and arm talent over production and toughness at the position. Pavia's game was never built on a huge arm or ideal height; it was built on escapability, accuracy under pressure, and an ability to make defenses pay when they broke assignment. Even when opponents got pressure on him, he completed nearly 70% of his passes and ranked among the nation's best in first downs earned while under duress.

What's Next for Diego Pavia?

Getting waived doesn't necessarily mean the end of the road. A few realistic paths are on the table:

Another NFL opportunity. Pavia remains in the NFL's waiver system. If he clears waivers unclaimed, he could still catch on with another team as a training camp arm, especially if injuries create openings elsewhere across the league. Some analysts have floated the New York Jets, who have a thin quarterback room behind Geno Smith, as a team that could use a low-risk, high-upside flier like Pavia.

The CFL. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers hold his negotiating rights and have publicly expressed interest in bringing him north of the border if his NFL dream stalls.

A return to college football. This is the wild-card option. Pavia doesn't technically fit within the NCAA's newest eligibility rules since he turned 20 the year before his four-year college career began — but given the current wave of eligibility lawsuits reshaping college sports, some believe he could pursue legal action for one more year of eligibility. It would be a path to more game reps and likely better pay than a CFL or UFL deal.

The Bigger Picture

Whatever happens next, Diego Pavia's story so far is already the kind that resonates far beyond one roster transaction. A kid with no Division I offers who bounced from junior college to a mid-major program to the SEC, turned a moribund Vanderbilt program into a national conversation, and pushed college football's most famous individual award down to the wire — that's the storyline drawing so much attention right now, regardless of what his NFL box score says.

Fans clearly haven't stopped rooting for him, and given his track record of outperforming expectations at every previous stop, it would be unwise to bet against him finding his next opportunity — wherever that ends up being.