If you didn’t know, the NFL’s best interior offensive lineman plays for the Denver Broncos.
The Broncos might be off to a 1-1 start to the 2026 season — including a blowout loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 1 — but NFL All-Pro guard Quinn Meinerz has started the season on a furious pace.
He’s also turning into an all-time bargain. Meinerz’s 4-year, $72 million contract extension, signed before the 2024 season, has 2 more seasons remaining — which is arguably the prime of his career for the 27-year-old.
In 2026, Meinerz is the 12th-highest-paid guard in the NFL, behind a long list of players who can’t hold a candle to him.
“How good is Broncos RG Quinn Meinerz?” Mile High Huddle’s Zack Kelberman wrote on his official X account on September 24. “Per Next Gen Stats, Meinerz did not allow a single pressure in the team’s Week 2 win over Jacksonville. It was his 20th career game without surrendering pressure. He gave up just one in Week 1. He has the lowest pressure rate among all qualifying NFL right guards over the past two seasons — despite leading with 378 one-on-one matchups in 2025. THAT good.”
Brilliant, Simple Approach to Contract Extensions
If all 31 other NFL teams adopted the Broncos’ approach to contracts and extensions … there would be a lot better teams across the board in the NFL.
The Broncos identify their very best players and don’t wait to pay them.
By doing so, they have saved an incredible amount of money.
Meinerz is just 1 example. The Broncos have taken the same tactic with NFL All-Pro cornerback Patrick Surtain II, edge rusher Nik Bonitto, edge rusher Jonathon Cooper, and wide receiver Courtland Sutton — all superstar players who agreed to contract extensions only to see their value skyrocket shortly after.
Surtain’s contract is perhaps the most incredible savings of the bunch. He signed a 4-year, $96 million contract extension before the 2024 season and became the 1st Bronco to be named NFL Defensive Player of the Year immediately after.
Widely considered the NFL’s top cover cornerback by a considerable margin, Surtain now makes almost $10 million less per year than the NFL’s top 2 highest-paid cornerbacks — Seattle’s Devon Witherspoon ($33 million) and New England’s Christian Gonzalez ($33.75 million).
Quinn Meinerz’s Growing Esteem in NFL Circle
Meinerz made a massive leap in ESPN’s annual preseason position rankings — up 4 spots to No. 4 in this year’s Top 10.
The rankings are voted on by a group of anonymous NFL executives, coaches, and scouts, with 1 NFL coordinator calling Meinerz a “mauler in the run game.”
“Meinerz belongs in the elite category after another consistent season as the anchor of Denver’s interior attack,” ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler wrote. “His 75.7% run-block win rate ranks seventh among guards. And he has become a more complete player in recent years.”
Meinerz — nicknamed “The Belly” or “The Gut” — seemed to acknowledge the accomplishment in his own, unique way on his official Instagram account, sharing a post from the 90s Era Nostalgia account featuring a pic from the cult classic 1998 film “Small Soldiers” of the movie’s hero, Archer, the leader of the Monster-like Gorgonites who bears a striking resemblance to Meinerz.
“Today’s kids will never know who the leader of the Gorgonites is,” 90s Eras Nostalgia wrote on the post Meinerz shared on his account.
Meinerz, 6-foot-3 and 320 pounds, played two seasons at NCAA Division III Wisconsin-Whitewater in 2018 and 2019 but didn’t play in 2020 because of the pandemic. That didn’t stop him from being drafted by the Broncos in the 3rd round (No. 98 overall) of the 2021 NFL Draft after blowing scouts away at the Senior Bowl.
Denver Broncos Getting All-Time Bargain With $72 Million All-Pro