Diego Pavia Gets Ravens Deal As Steelers Wait on Aaron Rodgers
The Ravens signed the undrafted free agent from Vanderbilt.
Diego Pavia has a new level of clarity on his NFL future, while the Steelers are still waiting on Aaron Rodgers to decide on his. The Ravens signed Pavia on Tuesday to a three-year contract as an underrated free agent. Pavia—a former star quarterback at Vanderbilt and second in Heisman Trophy voting behind eventual No.
1 NFL Draft pick Fernando Mendoza —had been originally set to attend Baltimore’s rookie minicamp this weekend on a tryout basis. The team, however, took the next step and tendered the contract offer before that even happened. Contract terms were not immediately disclosed, but undrafted NFL free agents such as him typically sign three-year, $3.
1 million deals—equal to the NFL minimum salaries during each of the next three years and the corresponding tenure—with little, if any, guaranteed money. By comparison, even a seventh-round draft pick garners a contract worth more than $4 million over four years, and typically with greater amounts of guaranteed money. Pavia went undrafted this past weekend, representing the first Heisman Trophy finalist since 2014 in that situation.
Despite gaudy on-field numbers, his age (24) and height (5 feet, 10 and one-eighth inches) were both seen as liabilities. In Baltimore, he’ll compete for the No. 3 position on the quarterback depth chart behind starter and former league Most Valuable Player Lamar Jackson and backup Tyler Huntley.