Quinn Meinerz – Syndication Server

2 Broncos among highest performance-based pay earners

Broncos G Quinn Meinerz ($747,505) and OLB Jonathon Cooper ($940,000) received some of the largest performance-based pay bonuses in the NFL.

Denver Broncos guard Quinn Meinerz and outside linebacker Jonathon Cooper were among the top 25 earners in 2023 as part of the NFL’s performance-based pay program.

“The Performance-Based Pay program is a collectively bargained benefit that compensates all players based upon their playing time and salary levels,” according to the NFL. Put simply, the program rewards players on low salaries who play significant snaps.

Meinerz and Cooper are still on team-friendly rookie contracts and they both started all 17 games last season. Meinerz received $747,505 in performance-based pay, a nice increase from his $1,095,078 salary last season.

Cooper received $738,916 in performance-based pay, which is not far away from his $940,000 base salary in 2023. The two players were rewarded for essentially outperforming their contracts.

Meinerz and Cooper weren’t the only Broncos players who received performance-based pay for the 2023 season.

The following players also got a boost to their salaries, according to KUSA-TV’s Mike Klis: cornerback Ja’Quan McMillian ($625,000), cornerback Fabian Moreau ($526,000), defensive lineman Jonathan Harris ($485,000), safety Delarrin Turner-Yell ($387,000), cornerback Damarri Mathis ($376,000), tight end Adam Trautman ($368,000), center Lloyd Cushenberry ($357,000), linebacker Drew Sanders ($356), safety P.J. Locke Locke ($343,000), wide receiver Lil’Jordan Humphrey ($342,000) and fullback Mike Burton ($339,000) also received performance-based bonuses.

View the full list of Denver’s bonuses on 9News.

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10 Broncos players who deserve contract extensions

These 10 players are scheduled to become free agents in 2025. The Broncos should consider re-signing them before they hit the open market.

With NFL free agency just over one week away, the Denver Broncos are about $14 million over the salary cap. Denver will need to make some roster moves and restructure a few contracts to get under the cap and create enough room to re-sign some of the team’s key in-house free agents.

Before anything else, the Broncos will worry about their in-house players and then pending free agents from other teams. The bulk of the league’s big signings will happen within the first wave of free agency, then things will then start to slow down.

Denver probably won’t have a lot of cap space to work with, so the team’s signings will be calculated, and perhaps minimal. Once the Broncos have wrapped up the bulk of their 2024 signings, attention will turn to potential extensions for players set to become free agents in 2025.

There’s always something on deck in the NFL.

Here’s a quick look ahead to 10 Denver players scheduled to become free agents in 2025 who deserve contract extensions from the Broncos.

Broncos’ offensive line took a big step forward in 2023

The Broncos’ offensive line was ranked 21st by PFF in 2022. After Sean Payton made several changes, the unit ranked 7th in 2023.

When Sean Payton arrived last offseason, one of his first big tasks was fixing the Denver Broncos’ offensive line.

By the end of the 2022 campaign, the team’s starting offensive line was Cam Fleming, Quinn Bailey, Graham Glasgow, Quinn Meinerz and Billy Turner. Payton quickly made big changes.

Glasgow was cut and Turner walked in free agency. Fleming and Bailey were re-signed as backups. Garett Bolles and Lloyd Cushenberry returned from injuries and Meinerz was the only Week 18 2022 starter assured of keeping his job in 2023.

When free agency opened, Payton immediately gave big contracts to guard Ben Powers and right tackle Mike McGlinchey to give the team a new starting lineup of Bolles, Powers, Cushenberry, Meinerz and McGlinchey.

Pro Football Focus is not infallible, but the website is useful. PFF ranked Denver’s offensive line 21st out of 32 units in 2022. After the 2023 regular season wrapped up, the Broncos’ offensive line was ranked 7th by PFF.

That represents a huge turnaround up front for Denver. Cushenberry is now scheduled to become a free agent, but the Broncos appear confident that 2023 seventh-round pick Alex Forsyth will be prepared to start in 2024.

Cushenberry’s free agent status gives the unit some uncertainty going into the offseason, but a Bolles-Powers-Forsyth-Meinerz-McGlinchey lineup would still be a much better scenario than Denver’s lineup in 2022. There’s always room for improvement, but the Broncos’ offensive line took a step forward in Payton’s first season.

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Here are the Broncos’ biggest Pro Bowl snubs

Broncos WR Courtland Sutton and OG Quinn Meinerz were snubbed by Pro Bowl voters.

The NFL announced its rosters for the 2024 Pro Bowl on Wednesday and the Denver Broncos will be represented by three starters on the AFC team: cornerback Pat Surtain, safety Justin Simmons and returner Marvin Mims.

In addition to those three starters, the Broncos also have a pair of third alternates in guard Quinn Meinerz and fullback Michael Burton. If multiple guards and fullbacks drop out of the flag football game, Meinerz and Burton could be added to the roster in the coming weeks.

So, who are Denver’s biggest Pro Bowl snubs this year? The biggest one is Meinerz, who deserved more than an alternate nod, and the second most notable snub is wide receiver Courtland Sutton.

Sutton did not rank high in receptions or receiving yards this season, but he pulled off some of the best catches of the season and scored 10 touchdowns, tied for third-most in the NFL this year.

Here’s a quick look at all of the Broncos’ Pro Bowl snubs and honorable mentions from the 2023 season.

Broncos injury updates: Quinn Meinerz is ‘going to be fine’

Broncos guard Quinn Meinerz (heart) is expected to be fine, but there’s no word yet on pass rusher Nik Bonitto (knee).

Denver Broncos guard Quinn Meinerz was taken to a local hospital at halftime of the team’s game against the Los Angeles Chargers with an elevated heart rate on Sunday afternoon.

As a precaution, Meinerz stayed at the Los Angeles hospital overnight, and it sounds like he is expected to be fine and return to Denver on Monday.

“Quinn will be back today,” coach Sean Payton said during his conference call Monday. “That’s really any update we have.”

Later during the call, when asked about Luke Wattenberg filling in at right guard, Payton added this: “I’m certainly relieved to know that Quinn is healthy and is going to be fine.”

Broncos fans can breathe a sigh of relief on that front.

We know less about the status of outside linebacker Nik Bonitto, who was ruled out of Sunday’s game in the first half with a knee injury. Payton did not provide a status update for Bonitto on Sunday after game or during Monday’s call.

Denver outside linebacker Jonathon Cooper, safety P.J. Locke and cornerback Ja’Quan McMillian also appeared to get banged up on Sunday as well, but all three returned to the game and finished the contest.

We’ll know more about the statuses of the Broncos’ injured players when the team releases an injury report on Wednesday.

Studs and duds from Broncos’ 24-7 win over Chargers

The Denver Broncos put on a defensive clinic against the Los Angeles Chargers for their seventh win of the season. These players stood out.

The Denver Broncos bounced back in a big way after a tough loss last week to the Houston Texans with their best all-around effort of the year against the Los Angeles Chargers, beating their AFC West rivals 24-7 on Sunday.

We look at the studs and duds of the big divisional win.

Pro Bowl voting update: Good news and bad news for Broncos players

Be sure to cast your #ProBowlVote for these deserving Broncos players!

Initial results from fan voting for the 2024 Pro Bowl are in and they offer a mixed bag for Denver Broncos players.

The Broncos have five players ranked among the top 10 vote-getters at their respective positions, but Denver also has a few very notable omissions.

Broncos center Lloyd Cushenberry has received the tenth-most fan votes at his position (fifth-most among AFC centers). Safety Justin Simmons has received the third-most votes at safety (second in the AFC behind Geno Stone of the Ravens). Kicker Wil Lutz has received the eighth-most votes (fourth-most in the AFC). Ex-Denver kicker Brandon McManus (now with the Jaguars) has received the ninth-most votes among kickers.

Broncos returner Marvin Mims ranks ninth among returners (fourth in the AFC). It’s going to be hard for any AFC returner to top Dolphins returner Braxton Berrios in fan voting given that Berrios is dating a social media influencer, likely leading to more votes for him on social media.

Denver fullback Michael Burton ranks eighth among fullbacks in fan voting (fourth among AFC fullbacks). It’s not very difficult to rank among the top ten at fullback given that there are 12 fullbacks in the entire NFL, with half of them in the AFC. Former Broncos fullback Andrew Beck ranks above Burton at No. 6 among FBs.

That’s the good news for Broncos players — Cushenberry, Simmons, Lutz, Mims and Burton rank among the top ten at their respective positions. The bad news is that cornerback Pat Surtain, guard Quinn Meinerz, wide receiver Courtland Sutton and left tackle Garett Bolles do NOT rank among the most popular fan choices at their respective positions for the Pro Bowl.

AFC cornerbacks Jalen Ramsey (Dolphins), Cam Taylor-Britt (Bengals), Rasul Douglas (Bills), L’Jarius Sneed (Chiefs) and Kenny Moore (Colts) all rank above Surtain. The fact that neither Surtain nor Sauce Gardner are among the top ten suggests that fans are voting based on interception stats instead of based on overall performance.

AFC guards Kevin Zeitler (Ravens), Joe Thuney (Chiefs), Joel Bitonio (Browns), Quenton Nelson (Colts), Trey Smith (Chiefs) and Robert Hunt (Dolphins) rank above Meinerz. AFC offensive tackle Terron Armstead (Dolphins), Laremy Tunsil (Texans) and Dion Dawkins (Bills) rank above Bolles.

AFC receivers Tyreek Hill (Dolphins), Keenan Allen (Chargers), Stefon Diggs (Bills), Ja’Marr Chase (Bengals) and Tank Dell (Texans) rank above Sutton. Dell is now sidelined by injury, so Sutton might move up in fan voting over the next few weeks.

Fan voting is not over yet — it runs through Christmas — so there’s still time to vote for your favorite players at NFL.com/ProBowl. It’s also worth noting that fan voting only accounts for one-third of the vote (the other two-thirds of the voting is done by coaches and players). So the Broncos players not doing well in fan voting (most notably Surtain) will likely make up ground when players and coaches vote later this month.

The 2024 Pro Bowl will be a flag football game in Orlando next February with Peyton Manning (AFC) and Eli Manning (NFC) serving as coaches.

Broncos guard Quinn Meinerz playing ‘really well’ in Year 3

“To have a right guard with his strength and power — it’s important to him. He loves football. He’s in that weight room. He’s studying.”

It’s not often that offensive linemen are fan favorites, but Denver Broncos guard Quinn Meinerz is beloved in Broncos Country.

Nicknamed “The Belly,” Meinerz has gone viral multiple times this season for his big blocks in prime-time games. After being named an “honorable mention” among the NFL’s best guards in 2022, Meinerz is now making a case to be ranked among the league’s best in 2023.

“He’s physical, and you notice it on some of these individual blocks inside,” coach Sean Payton said of the third-year guard. “He plays with really good pad level. He’s strong. There are certain times when you need a yard, and you’re going to get a couple different fronts.

“He’s playing really well. He had his 25th birthday [in November]. I’m glad he’s on our team. To have a right guard with his strength and power — it’s important to him. He loves football. He’s in that weight room. He’s studying. It’s a good [offensive line] group.”

Through 12 games this season, Meinerz has not allowed a single sack and he has only committed one penalty, according to Stats Perform.

Meinerz has been the third-best guard in the NFL this year, according to grades from Pro Football Focus. The only guards with better grades than Meinerz (82.9) in 2023 are Kevin Dotson (84.5) and Chris Lindstrom (89.7).

Lindstrom and Dotson both play in the NFC, so if one uses PFF grades as the measuring stick, Meinerz has been the best guard in the AFC this season. If he continues playing at this high level, Meinerz will likely earn the first Pro Bowl nod of his career in 2023.

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5 Broncos who deserve to make the 2024 Pro Bowl

These five Broncos players should make the Pro Bowl this season. Denver also has a few players worthy of honorable mentions.

Fan voting for the 2024 NFL Pro Bowl has opened and several Denver Broncos players are worthy of national recognition.

The Pro Bowl Games will feature a flag football game again 2024 with Peyton Manning (AFC) and Eli Manning (NFC) returning as coaches. Last season, Elis’s NFC squad defeated Peyton’s AFC team at the Pro Bowl.

Last year, cornerback Pat Surtain was the team’s only representative at the All-Star game. Surtain is likely to make the Pro Bowl again this season, and he might be joined by several teammates.

In addition to Surtain, Denver’s secondary also features star safety Justin Simmons, who previously made the Pro Bowl in 2020.

On offense, guard Quinn Meinerz has been turning heads this season and wide receiver Courtland Sutton keeps scoring touchdowns. The Broncos also have a key special teams player worthy of a Pro Bowl nod.

Honorable mentions: Quarterback Russell Wilson, defensive lineman Zach Allen, cornerback Ja’Quan McMillian, outside linebacker Baron Browning, running back Javonte Williams and fullback Michael Burton.

WATCH: Brian Baldinger breaks down key Broncos plays from ‘Sunday Night Football’

NFL Network’s Brian Baldinger had praise for Russell Wilson, Courtland Sutton, Quinn Meinerz and Ja’Quan McMillian after Sunday’s win.

Just as he did last week, Brian Baldinger returned this week to break down key plays from a Denver Broncos victory on Twitter/X.

Here are the NFL Network analyst’s film takeaways from the Broncos’ 21-20 win over the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday Night Football in Week 12.