There will be no forced quarterback competition in Tennessee after all.
Titans quarterback Will Levis will undergo surgery on his throwing shoulder and miss the entire 2025 season, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported on Monday, per sources informed of the situation. The team later confirmed the move.
The decision will end Levis' season before it begins, with surgery scheduled for July 29. Rapoport added that Levis elected to undergo the procedure to ensure his long-term health. The QB has been dealing with the injury since last season, and while he's participated in practice, the pain hasn't completely subsided.
"After consulting with doctors and his representatives, Will Levis has decided to undergo shoulder surgery that will sideline him for the entire 2025 season," the club said in a statement. "We support his decision to focus on his long-term health. He approached the offseason with professionalism and showed clear growth as a leader. We remain confident in his full recovery."
What does Levis' injury mean for the Titans in 2025?
The news ends any charade of a quarterback competition in Nashville. This is Cam Ward's team.
It was always likely that the No. 1 overall pick would be the Day 1 starter, but coach Brian Callahan insisted all offseason that the rookie would have to earn the gig. With the only other QB on the roster in a position to push Ward for the starting job now out for the season, talk of competition will fall on deaf ears -- if any were even listening before.
Prior to Levis' injury announcement, Callahan had avoided naming Ward the starter. We'll see if that tune changes as training camp opens this week.
The only other quarterbacks on the roster are veterans Brandon Allen and Tim Boyle. Allen has started 10 career games -- only one coming since 2021. Boyle, on his seventh team in seven seasons, is 0-5 in his career as a starter. Neither is a realistic threat to unseat Ward, barring injury.
The Titans could consider adding a veteran camp arm to the mix simply to spread the reps.
Does Levis have a future in Tennessee after injury?
The injury squelches any trade chatter regarding Levis, who could have been viewed as a backup candidate for a club with a veteran signal-caller. We'll see if those talks resurface next offseason.
The injury is the latest knock on the 2023 second-round pick.
After falling in the draft, Levis started 21 games over his first two seasons, compiling an inefficient 61.0 completion percentage with 21 touchdowns and 16 interceptions.
Levis boasts a massive arm and solid athleticism, but never displayed the ability to be a station-to-station passer, struggled to navigate pressure, and missed too many throws to be a consistent starter. The 26-year-old was a boom-or-bust passer who dropped some of the biggest bombs but also made some of the worst decisions in the league last year. On multiple occasions last season, the quarterback left Callahan exasperated as he threw potential wins away with self-admitted bonehead plays.
From the moment the Titans earned the No. 1 pick, Levis' days as the starter in Tennessee were numbered. Following the Ward selection, 2025 was destined to be a year the passer learned from the sideline. Now, he'll do that with no shot at ever seeing the field in Year 3. We'll see next offseason if he returns healthy and has learned enough in his year on the sideline to be an effective backup in Tennessee or, perhaps, elsewhere.
