Diego Pavia, who made waves during the 2026 NFL Draft process, was waived by the Baltimore Ravens shortly before training camp gets underway.
The Ravens announced the news on Thursday, July 23, saying Pavia, 24, was cut to make room for veteran center Ethan Pocic on the 90-man roster.
Pavia, the runner-up for the 2025 Heisman Trophy after a record-setting year at Vanderbilt, was in competition to be the No. 3 quarterback on the Ravens’ depth chart behind starter Lamar Jackson and backup Tyler Huntley.
Baltimore begins training camp on Wednesday, July 29, at the Under Armour Performance Center in Owings Mill, Maryland.
Pavia signed with the Ravens as an undrafted free agent after he was not selected in the NFL Draft. He became the first Heisman Trophy finalist to go undrafted since 2014.
After achieving folk hero status at Vanderbilt, Pavia became known just as much for his behavior away from the football field.
When Indiana University quarterback Fernando Mendoza won the Heisman Trophy in a blowout, Pavia took to his Instagram Story and wrote: “F-all the voters 👎But…Familiy for life.”
Pavia apologized for his post the next day in a separate upload.
“Being a part of the Heisman ceremony last night as a finalist was such an honor,” he wrote in December 2025. “As a competitor, just like in everything I do I wanted to win. To be so close to my dream and come up short was painful. I didn’t handle those emotions well at all and did not represent myself the way I wanted to. I have much love and respect for the Heisman voters and the selection process, and I apologize for being disrespectful. It was a mistake, and I am sorry.”
He continued, “Fernando Mendoza is an elite competitor and a deserving winner of the award. I have nothing but respect for his accomplishments as well as the success that [Notre Dame’s] Jeremiyah [Love] and [Ohio State’s] Julian [Sayin] had this season.”
Pavia added that he had been “doubted my whole life.”
“Every step of my journey I’ve had to break down doors and fight for myself, because [I’ve] learned that nothing would be handed to me,” he said. “My family has always been in my corner, and my teammates, coaches and staff have my six. I love them — I am grateful for them.”
At the 2026 Scouting Combine in February, Pavia was asked whether any teams had expressed concerns over his social media posts.
“One thing about me is I don’t care what people think about me,” he told reporters. “God has a plan for me regardless. But the way the media is, they’re supposed to put out clickbait and things like that. That’s how people get views, and that’s how people make money. I understand that. And so people will twist a story and try to put out bad media to get clicks, good media to get clicks. That’s just today’s world that we live in. So I’m just adjusting to the new world.”
