Giants sign defensive tackle D.J. Reader

D.J. Reader (Google Images)

The New York Giants signed defensive tackle D.J. Reader of Greensboro, North Carolina to a two-year contract worth $12.5 million according to Miguel Angel Fernandez Castro of Bola VIP on Thursday. Reader is joining the Giants to replace defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence, who wad traded by the Giants to the Cincinnati Bengals on April 19.

The Giants are Reader’s fourth National Football League team. He spent four seasons with the Houston Texans from 2016 to 2019, four seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals from 2020 to 2023, and the last two seasons with the Detroit Lions. 

This past season for the Lions, Reader had 28 combined tackles (11 solo tackles and 17 assisted tackles), and four quarterback hits. In Reader’s career, he has played in 137 NFL games. He has 328 combined tackles (171 solo tackles and 157 assisted tackles), 27 tackles for a loss, 56 quarterback hits, nine pass deflections, one forced fumble, three fumble recoveries and 12.5 sacks. The forced fumble came in a 34-23 Bengals win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on December 18, 2022.

Reader is one of two high profile free agents on the defensive side to join the Giants in the offseason. The other is linebacker Tremaine Edmunds of Danville, Virginia, who signed a three-year contract worth $36 million on March 12.

It will now be interesting to see how Reader fits into the Giants defense. New York will definitely have a different defensive look in 2026 with John Harbaugh as their new head coach.

At four wins and 13 losses, the Giants were the second worst team in the National Football Conference this past year. The only team worse were the Arizona Cardinals at three wins and 14 losses.