According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the Rams negotiated a $3 million pay cut with LT Andrew Whitworth.
The veteran left tackle reduced his 2021 base salary from $7 million to $4 million in exchange for making it fully guaranteed.
It was one of a number of moves the Rams made to get under the cap and free up space to make moves this offseason.
Whitworth had appeared to be leaning toward retirement before changing course and deciding to come back for another year after successfully rehabbing a knee injury. But he alluded to other factors at play, which appear to have included his contract which is now settled.
“I think with unfinished business, I think with what I’ve had to overcome this season, I would love to come back out here and compete with this football team again,” Whitworth said back in January via Emmanuel Morgan of the Los Angeles Times. “But there are a lot of things that have to align.”
Whitworth, 39, is a former second-round pick of the Bengals back in 2006. He spent 11 years in Cincinnati before signing a three-year, $33.75 million contract that included $15 million guaranteed with the Rams in 2017.
Whitworth made a base salary of $10.25 million for the 2019 season. The Rams brought him back on a three-year extension in 2020.
In 2020, Whitworth has appeared in nine games for the Rams and started all of them at left tackle. Pro Football Focus rated him as the No. 4 tackle out of 83 qualifying players.
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