In each of the last two offseasons, it’s seemed like retirement was a possibility for Andrew Whitworth. After Super Bowl LIII, he left the door open to walk away from the NFL at the age of 37. When the 2019 season ended, it was the same situation with Whitworth not committing to returning until after he thought it over for a little while.
Ultimately, he decided to come back for another season with the Rams, agreeing to an extension in the first week of free agency. He didn’t just sign a one-year deal, though. It’s a three-year contract that will end when Whitworth is 41 years old.
Of course, with the way NFL contracts are structured, the Rams can release Whitworth without much penalty after the 2020 season. And for Whitworth, he’s still taking it year by year despite being signed through 2022.
“It’s always been to keep it year by year, and as long as there’s always a desire to play and always a desire to train,” Whitworth said on a conference call Thursday. I think for veteran players, it’s more of, can you make it through an offseason of really building your body up and all the training and intensity it takes to get to the football season? I think you have that ability to adjust, but I think that offseason, that’s the toughest part for most guys – offseason and training camp.”
It wasn’t all that surprising to see Whitworth re-sign with the Rams, especially after listening to his interviews and the comments made by Sean McVay and Les Snead. Everyone made it clear that the two sides wanted to get a deal done, it was just a matter of finding the right price.
Whitworth said it was “the goal all along” to return to the Rams after he decided that he wanted to play another season, adding that “there was no other place I wanted to be than here.”
The Rams are fortunate that he did return for the 2020 campaign because they didn’t have a clear replacement for him on the roster – and still don’t. Joseph Noteboom would’ve gotten a chance, but he may not be healthy and practicing until training camp. Bobby Evans played left tackle at Oklahoma, but he’s hardly a sure bet to succeed in the NFL.
Whitworth is a mentor for a lot of players off the field and will gladly assist his heir in that area, but when it comes to helping develop his future replacement on the field, he doesn’t think there’s much he can do.
“When it comes to your spot, it’s tough to say it this way, but the great ones all have their own natural way and they actually in some ways – it’s like somebody that’s just a fantastic speaker, they were probably born that way,” Whitworth said. “And so the truth is with a lot of left tackles, it’s going to be the same way. it’s going to be a guy that just naturally has the ability to do it, and I’m really going to be more of an asset to him in how to handle the things that are going to come up in his career, how I can try to help him become the best man he wants to be or whatever he sees that as. Those kinds of things, I can help him with. But really learning to play the position, being good at the position, that’s only going to come if they have the natural ability to do it.”
The Rams may draft a player this year who could potentially replace Whitworth whenever he steps away from the game, giving him a chance to learn for a year or two under the four-time Pro Bowler. But thanks to Whitworth’s return, they don’t have to worry about the left tackle position for at least another year.
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