{"id":354047,"date":"2026-09-22T23:48:46","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T23:48:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/354047\/"},"modified":"2026-09-22T23:48:46","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T23:48:46","slug":"jets-sign-will-levis-release-bailey-zappe-in-quarterback-shakeup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/354047\/","title":{"rendered":"Jets sign Will Levis, release Bailey Zappe in quarterback shakeup"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Jets are giving Will Levis a second chance.<\/p>\n

The 2023 second-round pick is signing with the team\u2019s practice squad, The Post\u2019s Brian Costello confirmed Tuesday afternoon.<\/p>\n

The Jets worked out the former Kentucky star earlier this month<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Gang Green is also releasing fellow quarterback Bailey Zappe from the practice squad in a corresponding move.<\/p>\n

Levis, 27, is three years removed from a promising rookie season with the Titans and has not enjoyed much success and battled injuries in recent years.<\/p>\n

He still believes he\u2019s a top quarterback, though.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are not 32 quarterbacks in this league better than me. I know that for sure,\u201d he said in August<\/a>. \u201cI know I\u2019ve put the tape out there already that I\u2019m a dang good quarterback in this league.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TennesseeTennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis warms up prior to a preseason NFL football game against the Chicago Bears, Saturday, August 29, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn. AP Photo\/George Walker IV<\/p>\n

Levis started nine games for Tennessee in 2023 and threw eight touchdowns to four interceptions while tallying 1,808 yards in a solid showing.<\/p>\n

His career took a turn for the worse the following year when the Titans went 2-10 in his 12 starts while he threw 13 touchdowns to 12 interceptions.<\/p>\n

The Titans benched him that year, and then replaced him with No. 1 pick Cam Ward in the 2025 Draft.<\/p>\n

Levis did not appear in any games last season after undergoing shoulder surgery, further raising uncertainty about his future with the AFC South franchise.<\/p>\n

Tennessee ultimately waived him in August as part of roster cuts<\/a>, ending a tenure that spanned 21 games over three seasons.<\/p>\n

\"NewNew York Jets quarterback Bailey Zappe (11) is tackled by New York Giants defensive lineman Bobby Jamison-Travis (97) during the second half of a preseason NFL football game Saturday, Aug. 29, 2026, in East Rutherford, N.J. AP Photo\/Adam Hunger<\/p>\n

Levis tallied 21 touchdowns to 16 interceptions while leading Tennessee to a 5-16 record in his starts, and he has tallied 3,899 passing yards, 21 touchdown passes and 16 interceptions.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just trying to make the most of every opportunity that I get,\u201d Levis said before being released. \u201cI can\u2019t control the reps that I get, and I\u2019m trying to take this time to obviously work on myself but [also] bring along others with me. The reps I\u2019ve taken before [were] with mainly the ones and twos, and I have the opportunity to work with guys that are really fighting for a roster position now and trying to bring them along and make as many opportunities for them as much as I\u2019m making opportunities for me.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, I\u2019m not worried about the competition per se or the amount of opportunities that they\u2019re going to give me. I just got to make sure that I\u2019m ready for when they are given to me and just preparing to be the best at that as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

He now will try to revitalize his career with the Jets, and he\u2019ll sit behind starter Geno Smith and fourth-round rookie backup Cade Klubnik on the team\u2019s depth chart.<\/p>\n

Many expect the Jets to use one of their three first-round picks in the 2027 NFL Draft \u2014 their own selection, Indianapolis\u2019 and Dallas \u2014 on a quarterback.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Jets are giving Will Levis a second chance. The 2023 second-round pick is signing with the team\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":354048,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[9,11,430,10,22,319,771,69786],"class_list":["post-354047","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-jets","tag-new-york-news","tag-nfl","tag-sports","tag-tennessee-titans","tag-will-levis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354047","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=354047"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354047\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/354048"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=354047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=354047"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=354047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}