Quinn Meinerz is going to be able to buy all the telescopes he wants.
The ascending offensive lineman and the Broncos agreed to a massive four-year contract extension worth up to $80 million and including $45 million in guarantees, multiple sources confirmed to The Denver Post on Tuesday evening.
Meinerz, a third-round draft pick in 2021, was entering the final year of his rookie contract and now will be with Denver for the foreseeable future. The former University of Wisconsin-Whitewater standout capitalized on a booming market for interior offensive linemen and the Broncos secured a player whom they consider to be a cornerstone talent.
Meinerz was an internet sensation coming out of college because his COVID-era workouts included moving logs at his uncle’s fishing camp. As he’s settled into the NFL, he’s become an avid collector of “chill synth” vinyl, bowling balls and telescopes. He is also a dominating football player who took a big step in 2023 and looks set to be one of the NFL’s best interior linemen for years to come.
Meinerz told The Post last fall that he felt as though he was in the midst of something approaching a breakout. Not only that, but he had become comfortable stating a simple aspiration.
“I want to be the best guard in football,” he said. “That’s my goal.”
Now he’s being paid like one.
The extension is notable for several reasons. Meinerz becomes one of just five interior offensive linemen to average $20 million per season in salary, per OvertheCap data. Not only that, but he is the first Broncos player under contract to land a big extension since the doomed Russell Wilson deal in 2022. That makes him the first in-house player to get a long-term deal under the Walton-Penner Family Ownership Group.
Meinerz’s coaches have made it clear they think he played at an elite level for all of 2023.
“I thought he had a really good year,” head coach Sean Payton said earlier this summer. “… I thought he played exceptionally well. Certainly, he’s a powerful, sticky run blocker. He does a lot of things extremely well. I think he loves it. He loves the process, which is half the battle. So I love that he’s our right guard.”
Meinerz has been regarded as one of the best run blockers in football since early in his second season. Offensive line coach Zach Strief said last fall that Meinerz had taken a jump in pass protection, too.
“I would find it very hard to accept that he’s not currently an elite pass-protecting guard,” said Strief, who played right tackle for six seasons next to potential future Hall of Fame right guard Jahri Evans in New Orleans. “When we sit down at the end of the year and look at those numbers, understanding the whole structure of what we were trying to do on some of those, there are certainly plays. ‘I missed a hand here, I missed that.’ But his recovery ability is elite. It’s as good as I’ve ever been around. It’s Terron Armstead-ish, like, how did you get back into that position?”
Meinerz is the latest heavy investment the Broncos have made on their offensive line.
In 2022, Denver gave right tackle Mike McGlinchey $87.5 million and right guard Ben Powers $52 million. Left tackle Garett Bolles is entering the final year of his contract and carries a 2024 cap number of $20 million.
All told that gives the Broncos a quartet of richly paid offensive linemen around what will likely be a young center — either Alex Forsyth or Luke Wattenberg — playing in front of an inexperienced quarterback this fall.
McGlinchey regularly marveled at Meinerz’s combination of athleticism and power last year, telling The Post, “I think he’s at the top tier. I think Quinn is still just scratching the surface of what he can be and he’s already at the top of this league, in my opinion. I’ve played with a lot of guys and there’s not many that are capable of the things he’s capable of physically. Mentally he’s tough as nails. He wants it so bad, and he’s as good of a teammate as he is a player.”
Meinerz is part of a 2021 draft class that has already blossomed into an excellent one from general manager George Paton. Cornerback Pat Surtain II, the No. 9 overall pick in 2021, is also up for a massive extension sometime in the coming months and pairs with Meinerz and now first-round quarterback Bo Nix as likely building blocks for the franchise.
In addition to that premium pairing, the Broncos in 2021 drafted running back Javonte Williams in the second round and found quality players in outside linebackers Baron Browning (third round) and Jonathon Cooper (seventh round) and safety Caden Sterns (fifth round). Sterns and Williams have dealt with injury issues, but if they round back into form this year it’s possible Denver could roll out five starters from that class.
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Originally Published: July 16, 2024 at 6:52 p.m.
