Getty Quinn Meinerz #77 of the Denver Broncos.
The Denver Broncos had a lot of roster turnover during the 2024 offseason. They could see even more changes take place before the campaign itself ends.
However, Pro Football Focus’ Thomas Valentine suggests working to keep a budding star.
“The Broncos’ offensive line underwent significant changes in 2023, but the key to the improved unit was Quinn Meinerz at left guard. The former third-round pick has molded himself into one of the best guards in the NFL, earning an 83.7 overall grade in 2023 to rank third at the position,” Valentine wrote on July 9.
“Finding quality guards in the NFL is a tough task, so when one falls into a team’s lap, they should do everything they can to retain them. Locking up Meinerz to a long-term extension should be a priority in Denver.”
The Broncos selected Meinerz with the No. 98 overall pick in the 2021 draft. He logged 97% of the Broncos’ offensive snaps in 2023, per Pro Football Reference.
Reminder that Quinn Meinerz is one of the better run-blocking guards in football. Size, power and competitive toughness/finish ✅✅✅
Meinerz got an “honorable mention” in ESPN’s survey of NFL executives, coaches, and scouts.
“Meinerz had a 91.7% pass block win rate and a 70.7% run block win rate for the Broncos last season,” ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler wrote in the survey published on July 13.
“Slowly but surely keeps getting better. Good anchor and shows some good power, especially when pulling. He gets ahold of you and can hang on. Doesn’t get the credit he deserves around an offensive line that gave up a ton of pressure,” an anonymous AFC offensive coach told Fowler about Meinerz.
Meinerz’s price tag could increase if he finally secures a Pro Bowl spot in 2024.
“I definitely have personal goals,” Meinerz told reporters on June 11 about being named a Pro Bowl alternate in 2023. “But right now it’s about keeping things small and not necessarily focusing on that. I think I might have focused a little bit too much on that last year; of being a Pro Bowl player and almost kind of feeling let down in a sense.
“That’s not necessarily where I’m focused at anymore. I think that’s kind of an individual thing that will just happen as a byproduct of playing well, being consistent.
“At the end of the day, the thing that really matters to me most is postseason football.”
Extension for Broncos’ Quinn Meinerz Expected to be ‘Expensive’
GettyDenver Broncos general manager George Paton.
Others have joined the chorus in pushing for the Broncos to extend Meinerz. Bleacher Report’s David Kenyon suggested the same, calling the former Wisconsin-Whitewater Warhawk Denver’s “most promising building block.”
“[Broncos head coach] Sean Payton‘s teardown is underway, but Quinn Meinerz should be an important part of the rebuild. (Well, I think so, at least.) Meinerz has established himself at right guard for Denver, which selected him in the third round of the 2021 draft,” Kenyon wrote on July 3. “His extension will likely be an expensive one.”
Meinerz is in Year 4 of a four-year, $4.8 million contract with a $3.6 million cap charge in 2024.
Meinerz was not a first-round pick. That means the Broncos cannot exercise a fifth-year option on his contract as they did with Pat Surtain II.
The Broncos can extend Meinerz or apply the franchise tag next offseason if a long-term deal still cannot be reached. They can apply the tag three times. The 2025 mark for offensive linemen is projected to come in at $22.7 million, per Over The Cap.
Former Broncos C Among ‘Honorable Mentions’ for Top-10 IOL
GettyLloyd Cushenberry III #79 of the Denver Broncos.
Meinerz will have someone new on his left flank in 2024., The Broncos need one of incumbent centers Alex Forsyth or Luke Wattenburg or 2024 free agency pickup Sam Mustipher to replace Lloyd Cushenberry, one of three Broncos third-round picks in the 2020 draft.
Cushenberry joined the Tennessee Titans on a four-year, $50 million contract in free agency.
His $21 million Year 1 salary is the most ever for a center, per Pro Football Focus’ Brad Spielberger on March 11. Cushenberry also earned an honorable mention in ESPN’s survey.
“Cushenberry comes to the Titans after impressing with a 95.2% pass block win rate in 2023 for the Broncos,” Fowler wrote, adding an anonymous coordinator described Cushenberry as, “‘Athletic, versatile, can do a lot with. He’ll give Tennessee flexibility up front.’”
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Broncos Urged to Make Pro Bowl Hopeful a ‘Priority’ in Contract Year