Broncos RG Quinn Meinerz Declines NFL's Pro Bowl Invite

With the Chiefs advancing to Super Bowl LIX, the NFL needed Pro Bowl replacements for Kansas City's starting offensive guards — Joe Thuney and Trey Smith — who won't be participating in the annual all-star festivities.

Neither will Denver Broncos right guard Quinn Meinerz, who recently declined the league's invitation according to beat reporter Chris Tomasson, whose source added, "He doesn't want to be a replacement."

Source on #Broncos guard Quinn Meinerz declining invitation to replace either Kansas City guard Joe Thuney or Chiefs guard Trey Smith in Pro Bowl Games: "He doesn't want to be a replacement."
— Chris Tomasson (@christomasson) January 27, 2025

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Meinerz has a right to feel slighted. The 26-year-old is coming off arguably the best season of his career, grading out as Pro Football Focus' No. 2 OG among 77 qualifiers while earning first-team All-Pro honors. This, after inking a massive $80 million contract extension last July.

But a jury of his peers, including the fan voter base, didn't believe he should be a Pro Bowl starter, instead sending Thuney, Smith, and Indianapolis' Quinton Nelson on the trip to Orlando.

“Here’s what happens," Broncos head coach Sean Payton explained on Jan. 3. "I’ve told Quinn this. I said the same thing to [former Saints G] Jahri Evans. Jahri’s up for the [Pro Football] Hall of Fame this year, he’s a finalist. [He was] an elite guard—elite—and he didn’t make it Year 2—I’m not sure what year it was. I called him in, and I said, ‘You’re going to get slighted a year or two in the early part of your career, and then you’re going to have two that you really shouldn’t have gotten in that you get on the back end.’ The same thing will happen with Quinn.”

Even without Meinerz, the Broncos will be represented nicely at Camping World Stadium as three of his teammates were voted to the Pro Bowl: cornerback Patrick Surtain II, outside linebacker Nik Bonitto, and return specialist Marvin Mims.

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