Three outcomes for the Titans and Will Levis: the QB’s trend in OTA practices needs to change for everyone involved
Will Levis and the Tennessee Titans are both in a strange position and there are only three outcomes for the 2026 NFL Season. Which is most likely?
Will Levis is back healthy at Tennessee Titans OTA practices in an overcrowded quarterback room where he and the team are stuck in weird spot.
Levis had his opportunity in the 2024 NFL season to become the Titans longterm future at the most valuable position in American sports. He blew it, objectively, with the most dramatic turnover riddled, meme creation campaign we’ve seen in the modern era.
After Tennessee drafted Cam Ward with the number one overall pick in 2025’s draft, the writing was on the wall: Levis’s chance here was toast. Then, right before training camp began last August, Levis made the personal decision to have season ending shoulder surgery to fix an AC joint injury he had dealt with dating back to his college days at Kentucky.
The decision didn’t set well with those inside the Titans building, most of whom are no longer employed. Regardless, that decision eliminated the Titans from being able to trade away Levis as an asset to another team in training camp.
2026 is the final season of the rookie contract for Levis. The Titans have three options on how to handle a weird situation with a talented player, with a messy resume, buried on your depth chart, entering a contract year.
Titans have three options to handle their Will Levis situation
The Titans have four quarterback on the 90 man roster with starter Cam Ward, free agent back up investment Mitch Trubisky, Levis, and long-shot free agent Hendon Hooker. NFL teams really only should keep two quarterbacks on the active roster and stash another on the practice squad.
Trubisky has not yet been seen at voluntary OTA practices, leaving the other three to take the reps. The 2017 second overall pick doesn’t need to be here. He’s worked in the system under Brian Daboll before. Great. This gives the other three more chances.
The problem… Levis has looked exactly the same as he did when he was operating the Titans rollercoaster as the starting quarterback in 2023 and 2024.
Levis has all of the talent: physic, arm strength, quick release, ability to layer the ball, touch, rocket throws, mobility, toughness. He can make some truly pretty football passes.
Then he has the ability to make one of the most ‘dude, what are you doing?’ plays the next snap.
He’s thrown three interceptions in two OTA sessions open to local media. Those interceptions came in three different situations. The worst being a near carbon copy of the pick-six he threw in Miami against the Dolphins.
(Levis helped lead a two TD forth quarter comeback to nail home my rollercoaster analogy)
Trading Will Levis: Titans option number one
I truly believe this is what everyone involved wants to happen. This allows Levis to have a fresh start. The Titans can recoup some type, some level of draft capital.
When would it happen?
It would have to be during the month of August as training camp and preseason games roll on. This allows for two things:
- Levis can put out fresh film for his resume
- Other quarterback injuries create needs
This also means the Titans (and Will) need Levis to have a strong finish to the offseason program in the next two weeks, and a strong training camp. No more weird turnovers.
Keeping Will Levis: Titans option number two
I don’t think the Titans would hate this as the outcome, but it’s still not ideal. GM Mike Borgonzi talked highly about Levis this offseason, and there doesn’t seem to be any ill feelings between the QB and the franchise, at all.
Keeping Levis would only happen under a few different conditions:
- Trubisky has an injury situation removing him as the best option for Ward’s back up (I even hate writing injury speculation in text but it’s not wrong)
- Levis is nothing but average in the preseason
- No other QB demand across the league materializes for a trade
- There is 1 absolute disaster scenario here that I won’t type into possible existence
The Titans would then have three QBs on the roster with Ward, Trubisky, and Levis, which would rob one valuable roster spot from another position for either depth or special teams.
Levis gets cut as the Titans hit the bottom of the options
He’s not good enough in the preseason to draw trade interest. He’s not average enough to think about keeping around. The NFL has the healthiest August in QB history. The Titans can’t afford to cut another player who can play for them on Sundays to keep Levis.
Cutting Levis would have the team swallowing the last $2.2 million of his guaranteed rookie contract. Is that worth it? It could be.