Despite finishing as the 2025 Heisman Trophy runner-up, Diego Pavia walked out of the NFL Draft without hearing his name called, and without landing an immediate undrafted free-agent deal either, even as 10 quarterbacks came off the board across all 257 selections. For a player coming off a nationally recognized season, the slide reflects how steep the projection gap remained: at 5-foot-10 with 28⅝-inch arms, his measurables ranked in the zeroth, ninth, and first percentiles among quarterbacks. The size concerns have hurt him throughout his entire journey, but Pavia hasn’t let it stop him.

He started his college career at New Mexico State, where he led them to a 10-win season in 2023, then transferred to Vanderbilt. Last season, he threw for over 3,500 yards, 29 touchdowns, and just 8 interceptions, but he took 23 sacks. He’s a dual-threat quarterback who added over 800 yards on the ground with 10 touchdowns.

Pavia’s Immediate Future

Pavia hasn’t signed an undrafted free-agent contract yet, but has reportedly accepted an invitation to the Baltimore Ravens’ NFL rookie minicamp. This is a tryout opportunity, not a roster commitment, meaning he is still auditioning for a place in the league rather than entering it. He’ll get a chance to prove doubters wrong with the Ravens on May 1.

The Ravens already have their quarterback in Lamar Jackson with Tyler Huntley backing him up, but those two are the only quarterbacks under contract. Baltimore also did not draft a quarterback this cycle, which quietly improves the odds that a minicamp performer could remain in the building beyond the weekend. There’s a shot for Pavia to make the team with a good showing, as the Ravens will likely sign a third one at some point during this offseason anyway.

He’ll have competition at the camp with UConn’s Joe Fagnano, who’s reportedly set to join the rookie minicamp as well. With the Ravens historically valuing mobility and off-script playmaking behind Lamar Jackson’s style of offense, the competition window here is narrow but stylistically relevant for Pavia.

There aren’t any reports of another quarterback joining the event, so Pavia has three days to impress new head coach Jesse Minter and offensive coordinator Declan Doyle.

Is the UFL or CFL a Bad Option?

If the Ravens don’t offer him a contract, Pavia will have to decide what he wants to do in the game of football. He has two real options: either play in the Canadian Football League or in the United Football League.

Should Pavia want to play in the CFL, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers actually have his rights. The CFL allows teams to retain the rights to up to 45 players who aren’t in the league, and Pavia is on Winnipeg’s negotiation list. That mechanism gives Winnipeg first access to his CFL entry path, even if an immediate roster opening is not guaranteed.

The team has five quarterbacks on its roster, but Pavia could become the starter if he decides to join. More realistically, he would enter as a developmental or rotational option first, which is typical for American quarterbacks transitioning into the league.

The UFL would be the next option, and it’s not a bad one if Pavia really wanted to continue his career. The league averaged 645,000 viewers per game in the 2025 season, and the name-brand Pavia would easily boost those ratings among football fans nationwide. Spring leagues increasingly function as evaluation extensions for NFL front offices rather than isolated alternative tracks, which makes the UFL more of a staging environment.

It’s not a bad option for Pavia, as he’d be the type of player the UFL needs. Former NFL punter and ESPN host Pat McAfee tweeted about this, calling Pavia the “UFL QB Blueprint.”

Why he’s a Long Shot for the NFL

We talked about it earlier, but his measurables are not what NFL teams want. He did just about everything he possibly could at Vanderbilt, having 30 big-time throws and a turnover-worthy play rate of 2.5 percent according to Pro Football Focus. The reality is, he’s accurate in the short-to-intermediate part of the game. Pavia thrives on moving with the pocket and hitting dig, screens, outs, and those shorter routes.

It’s just not sustainable in an NFL offense and doesn’t have an NFL arm to drive the ball down the field. A lot of his throws will sail on him and lose power while in the air. Add his shorter stature to it, and NFL teams are concerned about how he’d perform in an NFL pocket. He measured under 5-10 at the combine and entered the draft at age 24, two variables that historically compress developmental runway in quarterback evaluations. Then the attitude confrontation surrounding Pavia is a bigger discussion.

Pavia’s antics are a bigger reason he’s a long shot for the NFL. He posted on social media after finishing as the Heisman runner-up, “F ALL THE VOTERS,” and was caught partying in New York the night of with a sign saying “F*ck Indiana.” Those moments did not define his career, but they did arrive at the exact stage of the evaluation cycle when quarterback leadership optics matter most.

Those aren’t qualities NFL teams want to see out of their quarterbacks, especially for a position that is supposed to be the leader of the team. He later apologized for this on X, saying, “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.”

It’s hard to see a place for him in the league, given the type of media presence he brings. Think back to Shedeur Sanders’ last season with the Cleveland Browns. The amount of attention training camp, practice, and just about everything got for Cleveland was magnified because of Sanders being on the roster. Quarterback depth charts are rarely insulated from media narratives once attention shifts toward a developmental backup with name recognition. Pavia has the same type of name value, and if a starting quarterback were to struggle, the media would start asking about Pavia. It’s a situation many front offices and head coaches want to avoid, which is another reason Sanders fell to the fifth round.

How Would he Fare in the UFL?

Pavia would instantly become one of the UFL’s best starting quarterbacks. The one name NFL fans may remember is Matt Corral, who’s starting for the Birmingham Stallions. That comparison illustrates how former high-profile college quarterbacks can stabilize spring-league offenses quickly even when NFL translation remains uncertain.

Pavia’s playstyle is hard for an NFL team to fully accommodate, but for the UFL? It’s possible for an offense to build around him, and he brings face value to help grow the league into a legitimate spring ball league.

His ability to naturally promote with his name, the attitude he plays with, and how fun he is to watch are all reasons the UFL should be Pavia’s next move if he doesn’t make the NFL. The thing to remember for Pavia is that the NFL is always watching. If he shows development within his game at the UFL level, NFL teams sign UFL players before training camp starts. Now, I don’t know if Pavia can be added to a UFL roster, but if the UFL wanted to grow, they should allow it.

Outlook

It’s a hard situation to digest and figure out. The bottom line is this. Pavia doesn’t have the natural abilities or leadership qualities NFL teams want in their quarterbacks. Can he change in a couple of months’ time? Easily, he’s probably geared up and ready to be the ultimate teammate with the Ravens here shortly. If the NFL doesn’t work out, Pavia has to look at the UFL as the backup plan if he wants to continue his football career. His game, attitude and personality are better suited to a league like that, which needs more eyes and ears on its game.