Lordy Lordy, look who’s 40? LA Rams OT Andrew Whitworth

The LA Rams offensive line looks up to their left tackle Andrew Whitworth for good reason. His 40th birthday arrives on December 12, 2021, and he is playing incredible football so far this season.  Isn’t that amazing? The guy is about to blow out 40 candles on this year’s birthday cake, and he remains one of the best offensive linemen on this team.

And yet, like a Timex watch, he takes a licking and keeps on ticking. He is not starting for this team as some sort of gratuitous gesture. Rather, he has earned each and every opportunity to step onto the football field and anchor the left side of the offensive line. His sage wisdom for younger players stepping into an increased role is to learn how to calm themselves.

So here we go. An NFL starting offensive left tackle is turning 40 years of age. Happens all the time, right? Um, no. This doesn’t happen at all. But perhaps even more impressive is the fact that he continues to dominate at his position, and that he is still highly regarded. His 2021 score from Pro Football Focus is 82.4, an outstanding grade for any offensive lineman.

This video is worth watching

The video does reveal that Whitworth’s goal for his career was to get to this point. Now that he is ‘here’ in his career, he has the opportunity to view more of his career than claiming a retirement in just a few months.

About that retirement, he did manage to get some advice from National Hockey League (NHL) great Wayne Gretzky regarding when to retire.  You can read his advice below:

In terms of when retirement will claim Big Whit? Right now I would not be surprised if The LA Rams and Andrew Whitworth agree to extend him another year.

A numbers game

Of course, it all comes down to numbers. Can the LA Rams and Andrew Whitworth agree on the right dollars for one more season?  Per Spotrac.com, the LA Rams are on the hook for $14.7 million to keep Whitworth one more season.  That’s too high, even for someone as valuable and respected as Andrew Whitworth.

If the Rams can bring that number down to $6-8 million, I think both sides can come to terms to play Big Whit longer.  Even if the intent is just one more season, the Rams can create voidable years to push a significant chunk of the salary cap hit into 2023.

The LA Rams simply do not have the depth to fill the left tackle position along with some interior offensive line positions that appear to be vacating in 2022. So it makes sense for the team and the player to rework contract terms to make it possible for the LA Rams to get one more year out of Andrew Whitworth. No sense heading off to the rest home too soon.