Andrew Whitworth has given the Los Angeles Rams four strong years of play at left tackle after initially signing him during 2017 free agency. In the late stages of his career, few people thought he would play at as high of a level as he did in the last four seasons.
He wasn’t certain to return for the 2020 season before signing a three-year extension last offseason, and even being under contract through 2022, Whitworth isn’t guaranteed to be back with the Rams next season.
Based on his comments after the team’s loss to the Packers on Saturday, it sounds like he wants to keep playing – and he would love to be back with the team he’s spent the last four years with. But unfortunately, it may not be completely up to him and he knows that.
“I wouldn’t say that I was already decided to come back. It was more in the sense that when I sit from where I was a week ago or two weeks ago or three weeks ago, it’s like I’m looking for reasons that would just tell me, ‘Hey, I need to stop playing,’ or those kinds of things. So I don’t see those,” he said. “Obviously, the season’s over now and I’ll sit down and collect thoughts with the family and with Sean (McVay) and the Rams and we’ll figure those things out. But yeah, I think with unfinished business, with what I’ve really had to overcome this season, I would love to go back out there and compete with this football team again. But there’s a lot of things that have to align there.”
That last line is telling. No matter how much Whitworth wants to run it back with the Rams in 2021, it’s ultimately up to the team. If Les Snead and McVay don’t think he helps the offense enough next season to warrant a $7 million salary, the Rams could decide to move on.
Whitworth, 39, has a cap hit of $11.2 million in 2021 and $12.2 million in 2022. If they cut him this offseason, they’ll eat $5.8 million in dead money but will also save $5.3 million. It wouldn’t be good business, but it’s a conceivable way to move on from the veteran left tackle.
And considering Joe Noteboom will only cost the Rams $1.1 million in cap space next season, the team could opt to save money and use that $5.3 million savings to bolster other positions on the roster.
Of course, there’s Whitworth’s knee injury that throws a wrench into things, too. Whitworth said after Saturday’s game that he was told it was a 16-week injury that he was returning from in only eight weeks – a remarkable show of dedication and toughness. And even though he knew he wouldn’t be 100% for the playoffs, Whitworth fought to be on the field, even at the risk of not playing his best football.
And doing that makes him that much more motivated to come back and contribute to the Rams again.
“I knew coming back that I wasn’t going to be as healthy and as effective, maybe, as I’ve been in my past or feel as confident as I have in my past, but it was about more than just me. It was about our football team.” Whitworth said. “It was about, I know what I mean to these guys and how important it is for me to be in that huddle with them. To me, making that decision, going through that, all those things just made me more invigorated to get out there with them again, and hopefully things work out personally and with the team for me to be back.”
Unless the Rams truly feel strapped for cash or they strongly believe Noteboom can play well enough at left tackle, Whitworth should be back. He wants to be, it’s just a matter of whether Los Angeles will have him.
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