After Andrew Whitworth’s initial contract with the Rams expired following the 2019 season, the two sides decided it would be best to extend their partnership. Whitworth was still playing at a high level and the Rams had a need at left tackle with now clear options that would be better than the veteran Whitworth.
What came as a surprise was the fact that the Rams gave him a three-year extension at the age of 38, giving him a chance to play until he’s 40. Well, on Sunday, he’ll turn 40 and become the first left tackle to start a game at that age when the Rams play the Cardinals on Monday night.
He hinted at potentially retiring after this season when asked about his future this offseason but he changed his tune a bit this week. He’s not ruling out a return for his 17th season in 2022, the final year of his contract.
“If I let the guys on the team decide, I’m gonna be playing for a lot longer, so I can’t listen to anybody in the locker room,” he told reporters this week. “They’d try to sign me up for more years than I plan on doing, but I love playing and I said before the year that the goal was to get to 40, and I think that was definitely something that meant a lot to me. But now it’s really, I still love playing this game and regardless of anything else, if it works out, hopefully I’ll have a chance to continue my career and continue playing and we’ll make that final decision when the season’s over when I sit down with the Rams and the management and Coach Sean and all those kind of things. But for now, I feel good, I feel great body-wise. I don’t see any reason to stop unless it just doesn’t work out for both sides and so we’ll see when the time comes for all that.”
Whitworth was asked whether it’ll take someone ripping the jersey off his back, which stems from advice Wayne Gretzky gave him recently. Gretzky told Whitworth to “make sure people tear that jersey off of you and don’t walk away until you’re ready.”
That’s good advice and while Whitworth still won’t give a definitive answer, he doesn’t sound like someone who’s ready to call it quits.
“You’re never going to get a solid answer,” he said. “I like to play ‘this is the end year’ as many times as I can. It’s going on about nine now, so maybe when we get in the teens we’ll figure out when the real last year is. Probably when I tell you I’m gonna keep playing at the beginning of one of these seasons, that means that’s it.”
Whitworth told ESPN that the only way he’d retire is if the Rams can’t afford him financially or “there’s just some way where it doesn’t work out for the both of us for me to be back.” That’s his most definitive statement to date, which is good news for the Rams.
If Whitworth does return next season, he’ll carry a cap hit of $14.7 million. That’s a hefty price tag for a 40-year-old tackle, but not one the Rams couldn’t afford. Joe Noteboom, his most viable replacement, will be a free agent in March so the Rams will have a big decision to make on him, as well.
Whitworth can very clearly still play at a high level, leading the NFL with a pass-blocking grade of 90.0, per Pro Football Focus. He’s allowed just 10 pressures on 429 opportunities, a stellar rate for any player – let alone someone who’s about to turn 40.
[listicle id=659326]