RG Quinn Meinerz Named Broncos 'Secret Superstar' by PFF

Coming out of his third season, there's no doubt that Meinerz's NFL profile has grown as a result of his work. It may be cold comfort to him, but to even receive Pro Bowl and All-Pro votes as an interior offensive lineman on a sub-.500 team is an accomplishment of sorts. 

At the very least, it reveals that Meinerz's trajectory is on the rise. There is some confidence in that. It's definitely "cool." 

However, for too long now, the Broncos have had to console themselves with moral victories, both at the collective and individual level. That's how it goes for a team that misses the playoffs for eight straight years and posts seven consecutive losing seasons along the way. 

Meinerz now enters a contract year with some serious momentum. A 2021 third-round pick out of Wisconsin-Whitewater, he'll turn 26 next fall. 

Sometime between now and the end of the 2024 campaign, the Broncos will have to get serious about Meinerz's future. If he produces another dominant season, perhaps those individual accolades will come, which is why it might behoove the Broncos to get him locked up sooner rather than later. 

It's too bad the Broncos are in salary-cap purgatory at the moment, eh? GM George Paton and head coach Sean Payton had better get back to Broncos HQ soon and get started on the slicing and dicing of the roster to start getting some fiscal clarity.

That starts with deciding Russell Wilson's future. From there, expect to see the Broncos approach a key veteran or two with an extension offer to free up immediate cap space, make a trade, and/or outright release other tenured players making big money. 

With starting center Lloyd Cushenberry III set to hit unrestricted free agency, the Broncos — knowing that a Meinerz extension is relatively imminent and having two recently drafted candidates to take over as the O-line's pivot in the fold — aren't expected to retain him. Denver simply doesn't have the cap space to bring Cushenberry back, and in back-to-back years, the team drafted center prospects in Luke Wattenberg and Alex Forsyth. 

It's a safe bet that one of those two will be starting in between Meinerz and left guard Ben Powers in 2024. For now, tip your cap to the 'secret superstar' in Denver this year. Meinerz had one heck of a season.