Per Jason Fitzgerald of Over The Cap:
Quinn Meinerz signed a four year, $72 million extension with the Broncos on July 22, 2024. $45 million is guaranteed of which $24 million is fully guaranteed at signing. Meinerz received an $11.5 million signing bonus and his 2024 and 2025 salaries are guaranteed. If on the roster on the 5th day of the 2025 league year, his 2026 salary will be fully guaranteed. If on the roster on the 5th day of the 2027 league year, $6.14 million will become fully guaranteed. There are per game bonuses in the final three years of the contract. The contract also contains an additional void year for salary cap purposes. $8 million in additional incentives are available.
Some additional details:
- Surprisingly, Meinerz’s APY comes out to be only $18 million, and not $20 million. It’s surprising because initial reports to the contrary did not include weasel words like “up to” or “maximum” in that number.
- Less surprisingly, the reported guarantees of $45 million included vesting guarantees, with his full guarantees at signing coming in only at $24 million. However, the timing of his vesting guarantee on his 2026 salary being in 2025, combined with the structure of the contract as whole, makes it impractical to cut him before it vests. Something disastrous would have to happen in order to not pay out that salary, so I will describe his “likely guarantees” as $38.856 million.
- $10.275 million of his fully guaranteed money will be paid out in an option bonus in 2025. This accounts for the void year attached, in order to prorate the cap dollars from the option bonus maximally.
- The maximum earnings of the contract come from a set of rolling escalators to Meinerz’s base salaries based upon being named a first team All-Pro. The more times he is named to this list–and especially if he is consecutively named beginning this season–the more escalators that will kick in. Since Meinerz has never been named as such, these officially are classified as Not Likely To Be Earned, and unofficially I think many of these escalators will be daunting for Meinerz to obtain.
More beyond the fold: to reference Meinerz’s full contract table, visit his OTC page here.
Leaguewide ranks
APY
By, APY, Meinerz’s contract ranks only 6th leaguewide among guards, and not in a tie for 3rd as initially thought. However, the only additional player that is ahead of him is Zack Martin, who is likely on the tail end of his NFL career.
Guarantees
By full guarantees, this contract would only put Meinerz in a tie for 10th with Elgton Jenkins and Kevin Dotson. Even his teammate in Ben Powers got more fully guaranteed at signing with $27 million. However, this is where the likely guarantees mentioned above kick in. Not all players have the same vesting structure that Meinerz secured on his 2026 salary. When that is accounted for, Meinerz once again ranks 6th, yet just a hair below Dickerson. The table before, sorted by likely guarantees, is a broader view of where Meinerz shapes up among his peers that got as much or more in full guarantees.
| Player | Full | Likely | Maximum |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quenton Nelson | $41,000,000 | $60,000,000 | $60,000,000 |
| Robert Hunt | $44,000,000 | $54,000,000 | $63,000,000 |
| Chris Lindstrom | $48,202,000 | $48,202,000 | $62,702,000 |
| Joe Thuney | $31,890,000 | $46,890,000 | $46,890,000 |
| Landon Dickerson | $28,890,000 | $38,890,000 | $50,000,000 |
| Quinn Meinerz | $24,000,000 | $38,856,000 | $45,000,000 |
| Zack Martin | $36,850,000 | $36,850,000 | $36,850,000 |
| Ben Powers | $27,000,000 | $27,000,000 | $28,500,000 |
| Damien Lewis | $26,215,000 | $26,215,000 | $26,215,000 |
| Jonah Jackson | $25,500,000 | $25,500,000 | $34,000,000 |
| Kevin Dotson | $24,000,000 | $24,000,000 | $32,000,000 |
| Elgton Jenkins | $24,000,000 | $24,000,000 | $24,000,000 |
Cash flows
The money that Meinerz will get in each season is as follows, along with the rank among his peers. Once again, we see 6th place show up once again, with a inching up to 5th in the later seasons.
| Season | Amount | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $20,634,000 | 6th |
| 2 | $36,000,000 | 6th |
| 3 | $54,000,000 | 5th |
| 4 | $72,000,000 | 5th |
Analysis
Although the base APY did not come out as strong as first reported, this is still a strong and fair contract for Meinerz, coming down only from a rank around 3rd in all metrics to one around 6th. Meinerz also did well to get a sizeable vesting guarantee on over a third of the salary in the third season, placing an expedited schedule on the Broncos in 2026 if they wish to cut him then. The Broncos in turn got a small amount of Meinerz’s pay moved into per game roster bonuses that will only be paid out if he is active for those games, and there is no triggers of any kind on the final season of his extension.
It’s likely that Meinerz will be a Bronco through at least 2026. This also gives the team high tier contracts paid out to both their starting guards through then. Due to this, the play of Powers will have to be watched during this time to see if it keeps up with his scheduled pay, which is $12 million in 2025 (with a vesting guarantee of $1.5 million) and $13 million.
But as Sean Payton said in his press conference today, he believes the offensive line to be “the most important position group on the roster“, and it’s clear that George Paton agrees. As does the league as whole, not only at tackle, but at guard, which has seen salaries particularly rise in recent seasons. The Broncos did well to get a foundational block on offense set for years to come.