Andrew Whitworth wants to keep playing in 2020 at the age of 38, which should have the attention of the Cincinnati Bengals.
Those Bengals let Whitworth slip away years ago and the franchise legend hasn’t been shy in saying he felt the team lowballed him.
But time heals, right? Whitworth wants to keep playing and while it sounds like he and the Rams might iron something out before free agency, should he slip to market, the Bengals should probably seek to make things right.
The Bengals have Jonah Williams, last year’s first-round pick, coming back to man left tackle. But nothing is guaranteed there after the Alabama product got hurt in camps. And if Williams is back 100 percent, the Bengals could always seek to push Whitworth in to guard.
Depth chart-wise, the Bengals really appear to like Fred Johnson, a rookie who got time down the stretch at left tackle. They also like Michael Jordan at guard and still have the Billy Price experiment to run. Rookie Isaiah Prince is another guy the team has plans for over the long term, hence Zac Taylor suggesting the offensive line is in a better place than most think.
But Whitworth’s return doesn’t have to be about immediate on-field impact either (though knowing him, it probably would be).
Call it a PR move. Drafting Joe Burrow, bringing back a franchise legend like Whitworth, it would all go a long way toward rehabbing the bad relationship between the team and fans right now.
And beyond that, who wouldn’t want a guy like Whitworth with his leadership qualities in the building? Who wouldn’t want his habits and knowledge passed on to understudies like Williams, Price, Jordan and others?
Is this a relationship that can be repaired if Whitworth indeed leaves the Rams? Impossible to say. But bringing Whitworth home would do much more for the Bengals than simply improve the immediate on-field product.
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