The Titans may have secured their future by taking Cam Ward with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, but it came at the cost of closing the book on another QB—Will Levis. Once a potential franchise QB himself, Levis didn’t even see the field in Week 1 of the preseason and won’t see it in Week 2 either.

Drafted 33rd overall in 2023, Levis started nine games as a rookie and showed flashes with 1,808 passing yards, eight touchdowns, and just four interceptions. But the momentum never lasted. In 2024, he opened as the starter, only to stumble through 12 games with 2,091 yards, 13 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. Add in a shoulder injury that lingered all year. And the Titans’ 3-14 collapse pushed the front office into a reset.

Levis still had been receiving the most reps behind Ward during the offseason, but reality hit before training camp. He underwent surgery on the same shoulder that wrecked his 2024, which now sidelines him for the entire 2025 season. And now Levis has broken his silence with an Instagram update from a beach, shirtless in a sling. Captioned: “Sling(shot) engaged.” Baltimore Ravens’ WR DeAndre Hopkins dropped a clap emoji in the comments. While Levis’ sister added confirmation for fans—“Will got surgery in case anyone didn’t know.”

Levis now faces a brutal reality—his return won’t come until 2026, the final year of his rookie deal. By then, the Titans may have already moved on. With Cam Ward locked in as the new face of the franchise, Tennessee could shop Levis in a trade or let him test free agency once his contract runs out. Either way, the clock is ticking. Ward only played two drives in the preseason opener before giving way to veterans Brandon Allen and Tim Boyle.

For Levis, that means the best he can do this year is heal, watch from the sideline, and hope for a second chance somewhere else. Coming out of Kentucky, Levis had the arm strength that screamed “NFL starter.” But now after just two seasons, all that has been replaced by injury, pushing him out of the picture in Tennessee. Until then, he’ll have to play the role of supportive teammate, watching Ward take the reins of the job he once believed was his.

Will Levis’ shadow lingers as Cam Ward sets the tone

For a franchise that just buried the Will Levis era, the Tennessee Titans didn’t exactly break ground with their shiny new QB. Cam Ward’s debut was a mud-caked reminder of what happens when you throw a rookie quarterback into the fire. Asking him to wrestle with the league’s nastiest defense—the Denver Broncos. The box score? A painful 133 total yards of offense, one of the worst for Tennessee in the Brian Callahan era, and also one of their lowest single-game marks since 2023. But Ward didn’t flinch. “We’re a young group,” he said afterward. “We’ve got to keep playing.” 

Ward took six sacks and tossed for just 112 yards. “At the end of the day, nobody is perfect,” he fired back at critics. “I would like to see one of you guys try to block those big boys on the d-line. It ain’t easy.” And honestly? He’s not wrong. Nik Bonitto racked up a career-high nine pressures. Patrick Surtain II erased his side of the field like a chalkboard wipe. The Broncos are the NFL’s No. 1 pass rush for a reason.

But here’s the difference—Ward didn’t blink. He tossed the ball away when the play was dead. He nearly gifted the Broncos a safety before halftime, but muscled his way out of it. Drops, replay reversals, and rookie mistakes piled up, but he didn’t add panic to the chaos. “We’ve just got to continue to grow together,” he said. “It’s the first game. We’re not really tripping too much.” Maybe it’s stubborn optimism. Maybe it’s leadership. Either way, Ward’s stance is clear: this is his offense now, scars and all, and he’s willing to take the hits while his young unit figures out how to stand.