LA Rams venerable OT Andrew Whitworth just gets better with age

Hit me one more time

It was the general consensus that Andrew Whitworth would retire after the 2021 NFL Season. After all, he has made no bones about the fact that he wanted to play in the NFL until the age of 40, and he turns 40 years on December 18, 2021.  So it’s not a given that he will play through his current contract that lasts through the 2022 NFL season.

But the LA Rams should do everything in their power to keep him around. After all, the guy is acutely aware of the team’s strengths and weaknesses, he is an encyclopedia of knowledge, and he is one of the leaders of the team in the locker room.  But all that being said, it still comes down to how well he is playing on the football field, doesn’t it? Well, fear not. He is the best offensive lineman on the roster.

Rams roster bonus

He is playing so well, in fact, that it makes complete sense for the Rams to encourage him to come back for one more season. After all, when you are talking about blind-side offensive linemen, you are talking about the top-shelf of NFL players.

At some point, you would expect that Whitworth’s play would fall off. After all, 16 years of performing at one of the most physically demanding positions in the NFL certainly does take its toll on a player. And he was drafted three years before quarterback Matthew Stafford, so he continues to be the team historian, a player whose career began during the Marc Bulger and Steven Jackson era of the Saint Louis Rams.

Just like a Timex watch, he takes a licking and keeps on ticking. The only question that remains is: For how long?