The Baltimore Ravens have already moved on from Diego Pavia, cutting the former Vanderbilt quarterback before training camp really gets rolling.
Baltimore took a chance on Pavia after his standout college run, but the team was not willing to let that experiment stretch into August. The Ravens had five quarterbacks on the roster in the lead-up to camp, and Pavia is now out of the mix as the 2026 season approaches.
Pavia arrived with plenty of attention after nearly winning the Heisman Trophy in his final college season. He also helped pull Vanderbilt out of the doldrums, throwing for 49 touchdowns and running for 18 over a two-year span while helping the Commodores reach the Top 10. Even with that resume, though, his NFL outlook was always complicated.
At a shade under 5-10 and under 200 pounds, Pavia did not fit the usual quarterback mold. The source material also points to a lack of arm talent, along with a personality that many decision-makers around the league have viewed as cocky and arrogant. Put that together, and it helps explain why he went undrafted.
Baltimore signed Pavia right after reaching terms with UConn UDFA Joe Fagnano, a 6-4 pocket passer who looks much more like a traditional NFL quarterback. The Ravens’ offense uses its quarterback as much as any team in the league, which made the fit seem intriguing on paper. But the team clearly wasn’t interested in giving Pavia a real runway.
Instead, the Ravens will proceed with Lamar Jackson as the starter, Tyler Huntley as the backup, and a competition between Fagnano and former Miami Dolphins seventh-rounder Skylar Thompson. Pavia never even got the chance to try to win that job.
For now, his best path forward may come from his athletic ability rather than his profile as a quarterback. As the source notes, that could still make him appealing to some teams as a bundle of tools, but the market for him as a pure quarterback is shrinking fast.