Andrew Whitworth to sign with Rams

Posted by Michael David Smith on March 9, 2017, 9:35 AM EST
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The Bengals were optimistic they could re-sign offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth. But they won’t.

Whitworth plans to sign with the Rams today on a three-year deal worth a total of $36 million with $15 million guaranteed and $13 million coming in the first year of the contract.

That puts Whitworth on one of the worst offenses in the league — unless he can be part of a turnaround effort led by new head coach Sean McVay. The 35-year-old Whitworth has started all 16 games the last three years, and he’s a well-respected veteran who was a team captain. His absence will be a loss in Cincinnati.

Whitworth was the No. 20 player on our Free Agent Hot 100.

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52 responses to “Andrew Whitworth to sign with Rams”

  2. way to go bengals! with zietler set to leave we may now have one of the worst O lines in football and Dalton sucks under pressure…hey but Brandon Lafell coming back what a joke. i am quickly becoming disinterested in this mediocre organization

  3. Mike Brown is the most incompetent owner in all of sports. The only thing he knows how to do is let his best players walk out the door. Zeitler will be gone at 4:01 today also.

    Brown will re-sign dead weight like Domata Peko and Rey Maualuga though.

  6. sh*t like this is why the Bengals will never win a superbowl. just asinine and stupid to let your best offensive lineman walk for 2 more mil per year. terrible. as a bengals fan this really grinds me gears. with all that being said,GO PATS!

  7. What?! Holy, that cap is burning. So, you’re telling me free agents only care about the biggest bidder? I’m shocked, shocked I tell you!

  8. That’s a good get for the Rams. Their OL has been a straight joke for years. Even if Whitworth’s skills aren’t quite what they used to be, he will bring the mojo of winning a lot of games, a work ethic, and sound technique to a unit that has lacked all of that for a long time.

  10. Don’t worry Bengals fans. Paul Alexander will have Cedric Ogbuehi ready to take over the LT spot!

  15. Must be great to sign a guy who’s now the best guy on your offensive line. Your old left tackle becomes the new right tackle. Maybe your old right tackle gets moved to guard.

  16. Lapped by the Steelers again (and again and again…), the Bengals renew their neverending ineffective effort to do things as they’ve always done while hoping for a different outcome.

  17. Robinson will be shifted to LG. No need to move Havenstein, who’s their only other decent lineman, around.

  19. Funny how commentors are complaining about the Bengals are crap for letting him go, all while other comments are calling the Rams ridiculous for signing him. Is it truly a split on how much Whitworth has left, or do people just like to complain about teams’ front offices?

  20. can’t blame him. he’ll need all that money to live confortably in Cali but weather sure as hell nicer!

  21. More than I expected given his age. The Vikings better have a plan for the oline that needs at least 3 new starters – LT, C/RG, RT. They better get active soon as history shows teams that don’t participate in free agency annually suffer embarrassing defeats in January.

  22. Nice move for the Rams. They need to build a real O line to protect their young QB and give Gurley some legitimate blocking.

  26. “Was” one of the worst offenses in the league. The Rams won’t be the worst offense this coming season. Not when you have dumpster fire offenses for 2017 like the Vikings, Jets, Browns and Bengals.

    The Rams will end up being much better than any of those four.

  27. I thought for sure he’d chase a ring if he left the Bengals. No idea why he’d take this offer other than money, but that’s his right. Really surprised anyone gave him a 3 year deal, but realistically he’d be one of the best guards in the league if he had to slide into there for a year or two. Best of luck to Whit, now with he and Zeitler gone it’s pretty damn obvious what the Bengals biggest weakness is.

  29. bassplucker says:
    Mar 9, 2017 9:51 AM

    That’s a good get for the Rams. Their OL has been a straight joke for years. Even if Whitworth’s skills aren’t quite what they used to be, he will bring the mojo of winning a lot of games, a work ethic, and sound technique to a unit that has lacked all of that for a long time.
    _______________________________

    Honestly, Whitworth is as good as he ever was. It won’t last more than another year or two, but he really is as good or better.

  30. happy for whit. He deserves it. but as usual the bungals let the good ones go and keep the criminals. could have cleared up a lot of cash by dumping jones and peko. then spend smart money on a few good free agents.

  31. James Harrison’s projected 2017 sack total just jumped by 2-4 with this departure.

  32. add zeitler and dre to the list of players they are to chinsey to keep as well. looks like a great 4 and 12 year on the horizon.

  33. From how it looks the Rams can get out of the deal after one season as only 2.5 million is guaranteed in year 2 of the deal

  34. Thanks for a lot of great years, Big Whit! You were always Mr Bengals in my eyes. We’re gonna miss you, and hope you come back on a 1 day deal to retire as a Bengal.

  35. As a Rams fan I’m thrilled by this move. Now we can move worthless Greg Robinson out of there and shift him to guard. Let’s hope MckVay is smarter then the previous coaching staff and call more running plays to that side of the field and actually get Gurley more involved in the passing game.

  36. WOW, money grab, never would have thought that of him. Thought he wanted a ring.

    We’ll miss him, good luck Whit.

  38. Whitworth was too expensive for the Vikings.

    With that said, will Spielman:

    1) sign a quality guard or tackle? Probably not.
    2) will he sign a guard or tackle who has had injuries or their play has dropped of? Don’t bet against it?
    3) will he go bargain basement and only sign players on the “cheap”. Waiting for that to happen.
    4) still concentrate only on defense. Expecting that.

    Conclusion – the Vikings will be in just as a bad a shape as they were last year.

  39. Great, the best leader on the team.
    I’m glad he will get paid, but I don’t know if hes in a better position overall

  41. Cedric Ogbuehi is the second coming of “The Human Turnstile” Rod Jones from those legendary Bengals teams of the early millennium. An epic implosion is brewing in what will likely be Marvin Lewis’s swan song.

  43. I can understand not wanting to shell out the money to keep both Whitworth and Zeitler but common sense would suggest a team would at least keep one of their top 2 lineman. I don’t understand how the Bengals can bounce back offensively and defensively when their offensive line just take a major step back.

  44. BREAKING NEWS!!!!!!
    KIJANA CARTER coming out of retirement to replace whitworth.
    look out cleveland Marvin seeking your spot in the basement of AFC North.

  45. I really believed that Whitworth would stay but it’s hard to pass up that kind of cash and he has defied they odds and has shown he is still playing at a very high level.

    I don’t like how I’ve read that the Bengals tried to trick other teams into believing that he was not interested in leaving and was all but locked up to stay in Cincinnati. I think they lowballed him a couple years back by using the leverage of drafting the two tackles in the back in 2015. I don’t think he forgot that. Now he used his leverage and possibly called the Bengals bluff or maybe out of spite, he burned them back. Either way, I wish him luck as he will be missed. He is one of the great players in Bengals history.

  48. Andy Dalton is in serious danger next season. Whitworth wanted to stay and play LT but the Bengals were more interested in playing a poor, young player than keeping a team legend. The Bengals will miss their Captain.

  50. There was just too many contracts left up in the air and the front office was in over their head. I don’t blame them for last year, Atlanta overpaid for Mo Sanu and even though they got to the Bowl, it wasn’t because of him.

    Losing Whit and probably losing Zietler is another story. There is no reason after his third year of starting as a plug and play rookie that Zietler shouldn’t have had an extension done. But management wanted to be cute and milk every minute of his 5 year rookie deal exposing a potential all pro to injury and making him dance for his dinner. Decastro went 2 or 3 picks after Zeitler and got his extension before his 5th year option and was also a plug and play rookie who missed an entire season due to injury. Obviously the Steelers realized how important a player he was to their plans. Now the Bengals are going to find out the hard way how important Zeitler was to them.

  51. Well that makes sense let your two best offensive lineman go on an offensive line that was already near the bottom last year. Whit and Zeitler were the only two even worth anything the rest is horrible. Good luck to Andy this year is all I can say. But if they have to tank a year to get a new coach and a high draft pick it might be worth it.

  52. Be interesting to see how it works out. Whit has been a good player, but he’s 35. That’s older than Jonathan Ogden, Walter Jones and Orlando Pace were when they all retired as Hall-of-Fame offensive tackles. 35 is old for an OT, even HoF caliber ones, is all I’m saying. The future may well show that the Bengals “let” him go at the right time.

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