Will Diego Pavia Ever Play In The NFL?

Diego Pavia is a lightning rod of a quarterback—and a lightning rod of a human being.

Is the 5-foot-10 inch, 203-pound former JuCo standout a likeable underdog story, or is he a villain?

Pavia rose to prominence during the last two college football seasons at Vanderbilt, as the dual-threat QB orchestrated an upset win over then-No. 1 Alabama in October 2024, and then earned All-SEC first-team honors for his production in 2025.

He was a Heisman finalist this past season, but caught plenty of flak after the ceremony for disparaging remarks about the Heisman voters.

Then, he went undrafted, much to the delight of his critics—who often point to his lack of height, bulky frame, and lack of maturity as reasons why he will never make it in the NFL.

Here, we will look at the latest buzz surrounding Pavia potentially latching on with an NFL team, and also take a look back at why the 24-year-old is so controversial.

Will Diego Pavia play in the NFL?
Pavia did not hear his name called in any of the seven rounds of the 2026 NFL Draft, but he signed with the Baltimore Ravens shortly after.

New Ravens head coach Jesse Minter gave Pavia a chance to flash his skills in minicamp.

“So now he’s in the door and it’s like, ‘Show us what you can do,” Minter said at the time. “And just like all undrafted rookies, that’s what I would say.

“For us, we see it as an opportunity to bring a player in that could potentially be something, and that’s really what this is for us.”

Unfortunately for Pavia, he did not perform well enough to earn a Ravens roster spot as he was beaten out by veterans Tyler Huntley, Skylar Thompson and undrafted former UConn QB Joe Fagnano. Baltimore released Pavia on July 23 and he is currently a free agent.

Pavia is undoubtedly hopeful that another NFL team will give him a chance this August. Or maybe the Ravens bring him back if they have an injury at the QB position. Or maybe he winds up in the Canadian Football League.

Diego Pavia in the CFL?
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers added Pavia to their negotiation list two years ago and remain interested in having him on their roster.

“[Conversations] picked up a little bit, just educating [Pavia’s representatives about the CFL],” Blue Bombers general manager Kyle Walters told 3DownNation in April after Pavia went undrafted. “[Pavia] is exciting. That guy wins. We would love to have him up here and I think he would be a very interesting prospect if he ever makes his way up here.”

The Blue Bombers love Pavia’s confidence and think he would fit well within their brash organization. According to 3DownNation, Winnipeg’s internal team motto is “FIFO,” which stands for “Fit in or f*** off.”

“[Blue Bombers head coach] Mike [O’Shea] and I, we’re old and we understand that young guys today change,” Walters continued. “We’re not like old men yelling at clouds. We understand that young men today are different, and we get that. You’re not going to hold it against them for being an individual, as long as it’s not a distraction to the team.”

For what it’s worth, Pavia was a team captain in both of his seasons at Vanderbilt.

“[Pavia] has a big personality and he’d make [the public relations staff’s] job harder, I’m sure, if were to sign,” Walters continued. “But he’s an interesting young man that competes and is confident in himself, which at that position is not a bad thing.”

Why all the backlash?
Search Diego Pavia highlights on YouTube and one of the first videos you’ll come across is titled, “Meet The Most HATED NFL Draft Prospect.”

Pavia is the type of player that screams after making a first down. He’ll wear a cowboy hat in the locker room after a win. He’ll continually talk trash to opponents throughout a game. He’ll engage with fans during a game. He’ll even urinate on a rival team’s logo.

Pavia’s brothers have not helped the QB’s image either. Javier and Roel Pavia were both arrested and were charged with public intoxication at a Vanderbilt game in August of last year. Later that season, Javier Pavia was again arrested on a public intoxication charge—this time during a Vandy road game at Tennessee.

The incident that really had college football traditionalists clutching their pearls, though, came on the night of last year’s Heisman Trophy ceremony.

Last December, Pavia was at The Appel Room at Lincoln Center in Manhattan, decked out in gold chains underneath his suit jacket, when Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza won college football’s top individual prize.

Pavia did not take the news well, as he posted an Instagram message that night that read: “F-ALL THE VOTERS” with a thumbs-down emoji.

He then went clubbing, and was seen with a sign that read: “F*** Indiana.”

Still room to grow
Pavia is often compared to Johnny Manziel, who famously flamed out of the NFL due to a multitude of off-field issues.

Manziel has served as a mentor to Pavia in recent months.

“He’s giving me some good advice, for sure,” Pavia said of Manziel. “He always reaches out, too. Checks up on me to make sure I’m good. He’s just a friend to me, and he’s given me some mentorship. He’s been around me. He’s been around my family. He’s just a great person for those that really don’t know.”

Manziel has been pretty much directing Pavia on what NOT to do as a young man trying to find his way in pro football.

“I’m like, Learn from my mistakes, brother,” Manziel told On3’s Chris Low. “I had so much opportunity and so much [expletive] and threw it away. Diego’s young and lit, and it’s easy in that position to get out of control. But I’m trying to give him the best advice I can. He’s listening. I think he is, so that’s a blessing.”

Pavia is well aware that his personality is one of the main reasons he was the first Heisman Trophy finalist to go undrafted since Northern Illinois quarterback Jordan Lynch in 2014.

His maturity is still very-much a work in progress.

“Coach [Clark] Lea always pressed that your frontal lobe isn’t fully developed ’til you’re 25, and I just turned 24,” Pavia told reporter Madelyn Burke in February. “So I’ve got like 365 days to go.”