Once an NFL team gives up on a quarterback, typically, that quarterback is no longer on that team.
Kyler Murray was released by the Arizona Cardinals. Tua Tagovailoa is now with the Atlanta Falcons. The Las Vegas Raiders added Kirk Cousins, formerly of the Falcons, as Geno Smith went back to the New York Jets, who’d had enough with Justin Fields, who's now in Kansas City. And so the cycle goes.
Except here.
Will Levis is still here.
And it’s not doing much for anyone.
The Tennessee Titans, for the sake of all involved, need to trade Levis this preseason.
For the Titans, it’d end this awkward, overdue partnership with a high-profile quarterback that they no longer have in their plans. It’d make room for a true evaluation of Hendon Hooker, who’s hardly
getting any practice reps behind Levis. It’d likely help starter Cam Ward, who didn’t have to see Levis in the rearview mirror last season as a rookie, but suddenly he does now.
It’d be best, most of all, for Levis. He’d get a fresh start somewhere else and have an honest chance to compete to again be a starting quarterback.
After starting 21 games for the Titans in his first two seasons, Levis is getting third-string reps this preseason. He’s behind Ward, who was only drafted first overall because the Titans had given up on Levis, and behind Mitch Trubisky, who was signed to be Ward’s backup largely because of his familiarity with new offensive coordinator Brian Daboll.
If you’re wondering how Levis fits into this arrangement, that's because he doesn’t.
Levis has no future with these Titans. He’s playing for a GM in Mike Borgonzi that didn't draft Levis but did draft Ward first overall (with Levis still on the team). And he's playing for a new coach in Robert Saleh who was on the opposing sideline to benefit from Levis’ inexplicable underhand fumble two years ago, when Saleh beat the Titans with a Jets team that was about to get him fired.
Saleh has said Levis is competing with Trubisky for the No. 2 role. But Ward is the unquestioned starter, and practice reps say Trubisky is clearly ahead of Levis, too.
What’s happening carries a whiff of vindictiveness from the Titans, given how Levis downplayed his shoulder injury internally during the 2024 season and then left the team hanging by opting for season-ending surgery just prior to the start of last season's training camp.
The Titans didn’t even feel comfortable allowing Levis, once he returned, to speak publicly. They’d denied interview requests for him all summer until the August 1 practice, after which Levis was finally made available to local media for the first time in more than a year.
Back at the same outdoor podium he used to stand behind as the Titans' starter, Levis was the same introspective, thoughtful guy as always. He wasn’t bitter or negative. He also wasn’t just speaking to those of us in attendance. This interview was aimed elsewhere.
Levis was making a case to the rest of the NFL. He described how taking last year away from football, while recovering from shoulder surgery, benefited him mentally and physically.
“I feel like I worked a lot for other people's approval in the beginning of my career,” Levis explained, “whereas I'm just trying to be the best version of me at this point. I have more confidence than I've ever had because of that.”
Exuding that confidence, he kept going:
“I know I've put the tape out there already that I'm a dang good quarterback in this league.”
And then this to seize the headlines:
“There are not 32 quarterbacks in this league better than me. I know that for sure.”
It could be awkward in Titans-land to hear that from a quarterback who’s behind two QBs on his own team.
But before you scoff at Levis’ brashness, note that Malik Willis is in line to start for the Miami Dolphins. Less than two years ago, the Titans traded Willis after he was given no chance internally to beat out … check notes … LEVIS!
That’s how encouraging Levis’ Titans infancy was in Nashville. Then his growth was derailed by his lack of consistency and reliability and too many outlandish mistakes. But the Titans in 2024 would’ve been terrible with pretty much any quarterback (an excuse that worked a lot better about Ward in 2025 than Levis in 2024).
Look around at some of the other QB situations in the league. Look at Atlanta, where no one is healthy. Look at the mess in Cleveland. Look at Arizona. Then look at Levis' 21 starts for the Titans again. Collectively. Not just those disastrous decisions that defined it as a failure. There were good moments, too.
Levis is not a lost cause in this league. He’s 27. He's healthy. He's rested. He sounds like he’s in a much better place mentally (which I still believe was the real issue back in 2024). He could thrive somewhere that wants him.
I hope Borgonzi permits Levis that opportunity soon. He should try.
Because this, right now, isn't helping anyone.
Reach Tennessean sports columnist Gentry Estes at gestes@tennessean.com and hang out with him on Bluesky @gentryestes.bsky.social
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Won't the Tennessee Titans just trade Will Levis already? | Estes
