NFL Rumors: D.J. Reader, Lions Agrees to 2-Year, $27.3M Contract After Bengals Stint

One of the top interior defenders in free agency made his decision with D.J. Reader agreeing to a two-year, $27.25 million contract with the Detroit Lions on Thursday, according to NFL insider Jordan Schultz.

The 29-year-old lived up to his reputation as an upper-tier defensive lineman in 2023 as he finished with 34 tackles, two tackles for loss and one sack. His campaign came to a disappointing end, though, as he suffered a torn quad in the Cincinnati Bengals' Week 15 win over the Minnesota Vikings.

Compounding matters, it was the same injury to his opposite leg that limited Reader to just five appearances in 2020.

In a January interview with The Athletic's Paul Dehner Jr., Reader acknowledged the torn quad "sets in doubt and questions" ahead of the offseason.

"That's really the toughest part," he said. "I remember I went on that rant with y'all in Tennessee about you don't want people questioning you at your job. And that's kind of what's going to happen again now."

Joe Burrow and the Bengals' high-powered offense deservedly earned a lot of credit for making the franchise an AFC title contender.

The contributions of the defense have often been overlooked in the team's rise, and nobody on that side of the ball may have been underrated outside of Cincinnati more than Reader. Defensive tackles generally don't get a lot of pub relative to other positions, and in Reader's case he didn't excel in any of the traditional metrics.

"I think every coach [in the league], every player knows what he's about, how he plays the game," defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo said to ESPN's Ben Baby. "For whatever reason, people sleep on him. That's fine for us. He deserves all the credit in the world."

Beyond being a capable run defender, the way in which he collapses the pocket helped to create sack opportunities for Trey Hendrickson and Sam Hubbard off the edge.

However, the injury cast a major cloud over Reader's free agency. He hasn't logged a full season since 2018, and two quad tears in four years is concerning for a player who turns 30 this summer.

Reader told Dehner he needed around six months to recover from his first tear and "felt amazing at nine." A similar timeline would have him ready in plenty of time for the 2024 regular season, and he'd be back to his best physically a few weeks at most into the year.

Still, it's less than ideal that Reader's recovery could overlap with most of Detroit's offseason preparations.

If he can nonetheless get back to his best next year, this will be an excellent deal for the Lions.

Aidan Hutchinson has lived up to the hype since Detroit selected him second overall in 2022 and he's poised to be a fearsome presence on the edge for a long time to come.

The interior of the team's defensive line was a bigger question mark, though, despite the defense as a whole allowing just 3.7 yards per carry. The San Francisco 49ers exposed the weakness to the tune of 155 rushing yards in the NFC title game.

Reader helps to shore up that issue, and his arrival is a sign of the Lions' wider ambitions after winning their first division title since 1993.