The prominent defensive tackle of the Cincinnati Bengals, D.J. Reader will be commencing the 2024 NFL season with a new club; the Detroit Lions. He joined the Lions with a two-year, $27.25 million contract.
Reader had shared during “The Jim Rome Show” that it was “super tough” regarding his departure from the Bengals. He further mentioned via NFL.com, “things happen in free agency, and whether it’s upstairs going in a different direction or, you know, I did get injured a couple times there.”
The defensive end was picked up in the 2016 NFL Draft in the fifth round as the 166th pick and was selected by the Houston Texans. He played from 2016-2019 with the Texans and then moved on to the Cincinnati Bengals, with whom he spent four seasons.
Reader had missed eleven games in the 2020 season as he had suffered a left quadriceps tear. However, the next year, he and quarterback Joe Burrow took the Bengals to Super Bowl LVI. In the next season, they also went to the AFC Championship Game.
In the 2022 campaign, Reader missed seven games and, in Week 15 of 2023 season, he once again suffered from right quadriceps tear. Injuries had derailed the talented defensive end’s career but he has emerged as one of the best in his position with 82.2 overall grade.
He also disclosed, “I don’t see any setbacks keeping me from being able to be right back where I was and the player I was. When I’m out there playing, I’m one of the top three players at my position. So I don’t think that’s gonna change once I get back and this knee’s back. I think it’ll be, like you said, another setup for greatness to go out there and do this thing.”
Reader has shared that he doesn’t expect that the injuries will keep him from being the best player he was and that they will not change his course as he is confident in his abilities.
