Will Levis waived by Titans, now draws Jets waiver buzz

The Titans finally pulled the plug on Will Levis. Multiple reporters broke the news within minutes of each other on August 30: Tennessee was waiving the quarterback it once traded up to draft, ending a rocky 3-year run that never came close to living up to the hype.

Ian Rapoport

@RapSheet

The #Titans are waiving QB Will Levis, source says. Tennessee had been open to trading Levis for some time, and in the end, both sides move on.

Levis went No. 33 overall in the 2023 draft, with the Titans surrendering multiple picks to move up and grab him after a strong two-year stretch at Kentucky. It never translated. He finished his Tennessee tenure 5-16 as a starter, and Jeremy Fowler reported Levis actually wanted out — this wasn't a shock benching, it was a mutual parting both sides had been circling for a while (2094136767880245440).

The writing had been on the wall for months. Levis missed all of 2025 on injured reserve after opting for shoulder surgery right before training camp, and Tennessee used the No. 1 overall pick that same offseason on Cam Ward, his replacement. Once healthy, Levis was a trade chip nobody bit on, and Rapoport noted the Titans had been open to moving him "for some time" before it just ended in a straight release.

Terry McCormick

@terrymc13

Titans cuts: most notable are Levis, Oliver, Kinsey, Osborn, Volson.

Levis wasn't alone — Terry McCormick's rundown of Titans cuts included Hendon Hooker, Dee Oliver, Kyle Kinsey, Chris Osborn and Aaron Volson, and Adam Schefter's league-wide list of notable cuts shows just how deep the quarterback purge went across the NFL on cutdown weekend, with names like Sam Hartman, Hooker, Jake Browning and Nick Mullens all hitting the wire alongside him.

Now it's about who claims him. Waiver priority runs by inverse standing from last season, and Rich Cimini flagged that the Raiders hold the No. 1 spot with the Jets right behind at No. 2 — a big deal since Vegas is carrying Kirk Cousins and Fernando Mendoza and has little reason to add Levis.

Rich Cimini

@RichCimini

Today is waiver day. Important to note that the #Jets have the No. 2 priority, behind the Raiders. Not as many QBs were released as expected, as a handful of teams are carrying four (for now). Notable QBs cut: Will Levis, Jake Browning, Nick Mullens and Josh Johnson. #Jets

That's fueling real speculation in New York. The Jets open the 2026 season against Levis and the very Titans team he just left, so beat reporters have floated that claiming him could hand New York inside knowledge of Tennessee's new-look offense before Week 1. Greg Auman's read on the broader QB logjam backs that up — four teams are currently carrying 4 quarterbacks and appear to be waiting to see where Levis and the other cut passers land before making their next move.

Whether Levis becomes a Week 1 storyline against his old team or just a camp arm somewhere else, Tennessee's decision to move on closes the book on one of the more talked-about draft swings of the last few years. For a guy who "wanted out," per Fowler, this is the fresh start he was chasing — the only question left is who's willing to bet on it.