Earlier this offseason, Sean Payton likened his offensive line room to an episode of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.”
The Broncos spent big on the renovation.
They gutted the interior and spent $52.5 million to bring in guard Ben Powers. They reimagined the exterior to the tune of five years and $87.5 million for right tackle Mike McGlinchey. They made smaller moves — some drywall here and some new appliances there — for veteran Kyle Fuller, seventh-round draft pick Alex Forsyth and others.
Of 16 offensive linemen on the current 90-man roster, seven are new since March.
For good reason, much of the offseason conversation regarding the offensive front has focused on free-agent additions Powers and McGlinchey ($80.5 million in guaranteed money), the return of Garett Bolles (entering third year of four-year, $68 million extension) from a lower leg fracture that cost him 11 games in 2022 and new offensive line coach Zach Strief.
If this remodel is going to turn into a showpiece, though, the Broncos need more than just the new bells and whistles. Just as critically, center Lloyd Cushenberry and right guard Quinn Meinerz, projected starters on rookie contracts, must hold up. Both had up-and-down seasons last year and both missed time with injuries. Teammates and coaches have had nothing but good things to say about each so far this summer.
In the makeover metaphor, they’re the fresh coat of paint — nothing structurally changed, just technique work and development under Strief — that has a chance to tie the whole place together.
Center Lloyd Cushenberry
Cushenberry missed the final nine games of 2022 with a groin injury, but the situation, which he referred to in January as “very frustrating,” wasn’t quite that simple. Cushenberry thought he was healthy enough to play even before his four weeks on injured reserve were up, but as he kept waiting to be activated, the decision kept getting put off.
NFL teams can designate only eight players to return from injured reserve in a season and, given injury issues at other positions and Graham Glasgow’s steady play in the middle for the Broncos, Cushenberry was shelved for the season.
“Very tough, but you’ve just got to understand what’s going on and be a pro about the situation,” he said when the 5-12 campaign concluded.
That set of moves perhaps cast some doubt on whether the Broncos felt comfortable entering 2023 with Cushenberry penciled in as the starter in the middle, though new coach Sean Payton put that doubt mostly to bed in March and added he thought the other additions up front would benefit Cushenberry.
Now entering the final year of his rookie contract, the LSU product looks like the leader in the clubhouse to start as he competes against the other players listed as centers on the roster in Fuller, Forsyth and second-year man Luke Wattenberg.
“Lloyd’s been great,” offensive line coach Zach Strief told The Post last month. “All the guys, really, where we’re fortunate coming in is they’re worried about the same things we’re worried about. They’re good guys, smart football players. Lloyd’s been exactly like that. There’s fundamental things for all of them, and Lloyd is no different. Lloyd’s the guy that you come in and you watch and, as an outsider, I feel like he has got more criticism than anybody. Everybody in this group has stuff that they have to work on and Lloyd is going to compete for his job just like everyone else is going to compete for their job.”
Strief, Payton and the Broncos coaching staff have had positive reviews so far.
“What’s great about Lloyd is that he’s a super humble guy, he’s very bright,” Strief said. “He’s picked up the offense really quickly, he’s operated all the calls for us effectively all the way through OTAs and now minicamp. He’s just got to keep working at his craft and he’s willing to do that.
“We haven’t put shoulder pads on, so it’s really hard to make an analysis of any of these guys, but we love the type of person Lloyd is and the type of person Lloyd is gives him a chance to be successful in this offense.”
How Cushenberry plays this fall will go a long way in determining whether the free-agent-to-be is Denver’s long-term answer in the middle or if Payton and company are looking for a new center in 2024 and beyond.
Right guard Quinn Meinerz
Meinerz and Cushenberry played only two full games and two partials next to each other in 2022. Meinerz suffered a hamstring injury 18 snaps into the opener against Seattle that cost him four games. In their third game back playing together, Cushenberry suffered the groin injury against Jacksonville in London.
So they’re getting reacquainted this offseason, but simultaneously Meinerz has begun building a rapport with McGlinchey, regarded as one of the league’s best run blockers, to his right.
The veteran McGlinchey sees vast potential as a road-grading duo between himself and the 2021 third-round pick out of Division III Wisconsin-Whitewater.
“You’ve got to have the same mindset and the same motivations and drive to be good and Quinn has that. He wants to be great,” McGlinchey told The Post during OTAs. “He’s still a young guy in this league and he’s got a lot to accomplish. He’s very, very capable. He’s an incredible athlete. As big and strong of a guy as I’ve ever been around.”
McGlinchey in 2022 helped San Francisco rookie Spencer Burford through starting 16 games at right guard. This offseason, he’s made sure he and Meinerz are partners in all of their workout sessions and that they spend time together outside the facility.
“I think the two of us are going to have a lot of success together and, obviously, now that we’re practicing, we can start building that chemistry on the field and with our techniques and certain ways to fit things,” McGlinchey said. “Especially in the run game that’s tough. You (have to learn) where exactly he’s going to be in pass protection and stuff like that. We’re going to get there and we’ve already started. It’s been fun.”
Meinerz made strides in his second professional season and had the best individual year of anybody on the Broncos front line. He played the fourth-most snaps up front behind Cam Fleming, who is back on a one-year deal as a projected swing tackle, and departed vets Glasgow and Dalton Risner.
“I have a lot of respect for his game,” Powers said of his new running mate. “Quinn has a high ceiling and he has a lot of potential.”
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