The Cincinnati Bengals plugged a major hole in their defensive line when they signed DT D.J. Reader back in 2020. He proved to be a core piece of their defense for the past four seasons, and they noticeably suffered when he missed time. Now a Detroit Lions, the Bengals may find they miss him in a big way. But they were unwilling to pony up as much as the Lions were, which Reader didn’t count on.
“Yeah, [I was surprised] a little bit”, he said in his introductory press conference with the Lions, via the team’s website, about not re-signing with the Bengals. “You always think that things are gonna work out for you in the best way where you’re at”.
A 2016 fifth-round draft pick by the Houston Texans, the Bengals made him the highest-paid defensive tackle in NFL history in 2020. In 44 games, he recorded 154 tackles with three sacks and one forced fumble, but you don’t measure defensive tackles with such statistics.
Reader’s biggest issue proved to be his health. You might notice that 44 games isn’t a lot over four years. That’s an average of just 11 games, and the Bengals averaged 16.5 games per year during his time there. He missed 11 games in his first season, and six in 2022. Even last season, he missed the end of the year due to injury, and he’s still recovering.
“It’s a little bit harder” to leave the Bengals than the Texans, he said. “You went through a lot of emotions and stuff with who you’re with previously. That organization took me to the Super Bowl, so there’s a lot of connections and stuff there. But things happen. Sometimes things don’t work out in relationships, and you’ve got to move on”.
The Bengals still have B.J. Hill, and they just added Sheldon Rankins in free agency. They’ll need more than that before the start of the regular season, however, and Reader made that unit run. He also prevented opposing offenses from running, more often than not.
Cincinnati did make attempts to re-sign Reader, but the Lions evidently wanted him more. Likewise, Detroit seemingly outbid the Pittsburgh Steelers for CB Cameron Sutton last year—which has a different resonance today.
Of course, you have to be cautious with an aging player who has an extensive injury history. He is recovering from his second torn quad since signing with the Bengals in 2020, but he’s still a stud. Or at least, he hopes to prove he’s still capable of playing at the highest level again, as he did the first time.
