D.J. Reader was a massive anchor in the middle of the Texans’ defense, bullying blockers with his combination of size, strength, mobility and skill.
As a 6-3, 347-pound one-man gang, Reader was the closest thing the Texans’ defense had to a special player besides three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year J.J. Watt.
But when the Texans essentially opted to re-sign Whitney Mercilus, and still have money for new deals for Deshaun Watson, Laremy Tunsil and Zach Cunningham, it meant they couldn’t afford to keep a budding star, even at a hometown discount.
The Texans offered Reader $6 million per year last summer and never got to the $10.5 million average that likely would have locked him up, according to league sources not authorized to speak publicly.
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It was a disappointing and not unexpected outcome for the Texans when Reader joined the Bengals and became the highest paid nose tackle in the NFL on a four-year, $53 million contract. The deal included a $16.25 million signing bonus and $20.25 million total guaranteed.
This pair of decisions — not retaining Reader and re-signing Mercilus to a four-year, $54 million contract — wound up having a hefty ripple effect on the Texans’ defense.
Without Reader, the run defense became even more vulnerable and is now ranked 31st overall after finishing 25th a year ago. They’re currently 31st in total defense after finishing 29th a year ago. They’re last in the NFL in turnovers created.
Reader had the ability to disrupt the line of scrimmage, clogging up blocks to allow other players to run free to the football. He also could shed blocks and was quick enough to make some timely plays. He was one of the few linemen in the AFC South division tough enough to successfully wrestle with Indianapolis guard Quenton Nelson.
The fact that Reader is out for the season after undergoing surgery to repair a torn quadriceps after five games and won’t play Sunday against his old teammates at NRG Stadium doesn’t negate how valuable he was to the Texans, and potentially critical in the future for the Bengals.
“He was a critical part of our defense and he helped us quite a bit and so, losing him hurt,” defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver said. “I think that he knows his importance to us, but every team is a different team. Evidently, Cincinnati saw the importance as well and that’s why they paid him what they paid him. But you lose guys in this business all the time, so you have to work around it the best you can.”
While playing for the Texans, Reader flashed some pass-rushing ability when given opportunities.
In 15 starts last season, Reader recorded a career-high 52 tackles and 2½ sacks. In 66 career games, he has 173 tackles, 6½ sacks and 25 quarterback hits. He lined up at defensive end and nose tackle, showing positional flexibility.
“Yeah, D.J.’s a great player,” Watt said. “He’s one of my best friends. He’s fantastic at what he does, so it’s definitely a loss for your defense any time you lose a player of that caliber. Now there’s a business side of things and he got a very good contract that I’m very happy that he got.
“I’m not going to pretend to know the ins and outs of our contract situations here and what they were willing to offer and things like that, but I’m happy for D.J. I also know that any team in the league would be lucky to have a nose like D.J.”
Former Texans coach and general manager Bill O’Brien explained the decision to not retain Reader in April during a conference call with season-ticket holders.
“There are certain guys that we just couldn’t do it financially,” O’Brien said. “We would have loved to keep D.J. Reader. We had good conversations with him and his representatives. But, at the end of the day, we couldn’t get that one done. So, that’s going to happen every single year.”
It was a bittersweet decision for Reader. He preferred to remain with the Texans. The financial component of the decision was a no-brainer. He couldn’t turn down the kind of money the Bengals gave him, or what the Denver Broncos were offering.
“It’s a really tough push-pull,” Reader said at the time. “You make friends. You know people. You’ve got to make the best decision for you. You know it’s a business. Sometimes you get a first job, and then you get another job, and that’s how it goes.
“I thought it would work out. Sometimes things don’t work out, and that’s OK. I think they’re doing their best for their organization.”
The Bengals can’t wait to have Reader back on the field.
“He’s been a tremendous asset to our organization, just his energy, the way he brings that veteran leadership to the table and that standard,” Bengals coach Zac Taylor said. “Could not be happier to have D.J. He was playing at a high level before he got hurt. Just from texting with him and FaceTiming him, he’s in a good place right now and is on track to be a big-time contributor for us next year.
“We’d heard about him from people that we knew, just about his personality and his character and thought that that was a great fit. He was all about ball, total professional, good person. The tape just speaks for itself when we watched the Houston tape from the last couple of years. He’s certainly a force to be reckoned with and we feel he like he can be a three-down player for us, so made the decision to sign him and we were happy he accepted and came to play. We’re really happy to have him.”
Losing Reader resonated with the Texans on and off the field.
Reader was an immensely popular figure in the locker room and in the community, where he was one of the Texans’ most active players with charitable appearances.
“I mean, D.J. Reader is a great guy, great teammate, great player,” Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson said. “Just his presence in the locker room has just always been big. Business is business. You have to take care of your family and your career.
“I know for a fact those guys in the locker room respect him and wish that he was here. I can’t really speak for the organization. I bet they feel the same. It sucks that he had to get hurt earlier this year. I wish he could have been balling out.”
Meanwhile, Mercilus is having an extremely rough season.
Mercilus was placed on the reserve-COVID-19 list Friday after testing positive for COVID-19, so he can't play Sunday against the Bengals. He also was on the COVID-19 reserve list earlier this season because of contact tracing.
Mercilus has four sacks after recording 7½ a year ago.
Texans interim coach Romeo Crennel defended Mercilus’ decline in production.
“He is playing a position where he’s not always in the rush,” Crennel said. “He’s in coverage some and he’s been flipping from side to side. That impacts a player. Just outwardly looking, we know what he used to be and what he used to be was he was rushing all the time, which allowed him the opportunity to become more familiar with the guy that he was going against because he was going against the same guy all the time and be able to know what moves he needed to make to impact the quarterback. So now, flipping him, he’s engaging different guys, he’s engaging different responsibilities. All of that adds up.”
Mercilus has three tackles, no sacks and two quarterback hits in the past five games. He has just one tackle in the past three games since a Thanksgiving win over Detroit.
“Whitney is a consummate pro,” Weaver said. “I know while he may have had a quiet game on the stat sheet, there’s a lot of things he does that don’t always show up. I reference the Thanksgiving Day game. They run a trick play, same play we got versus Buffalo in the playoff game. They try to wheel the quarterback out and throw it to him. Whitney, he sees it, he runs with the quarterback. It’s a tremendous play. Probably doesn’t get a lot of accolades for it.
“Obviously it doesn’t really show up on his stat sheet but it’s an unbelievable play. He does so many selfless jobs for this football team. I know he wants those stats and he wants those sacks, and he’ll get them. Just because of who he is as a person and his work ethic, they’re bound to come.”
Watt and Reader have remained close. Watt visited Reader at the hospital in Houston when he underwent surgery to repair his leg. Watt received a couple bottles of wine from Reader as a Christmas gift.
“Thank you for that, D.J.,” said Watt, who received a cake from the mother of Bengals defensive lineman Christian Covington, a Rice graduate and former Texans sixth-round draft pick. “We constantly talk. I don’t know if (Covington’s mother) trying to fatten me up before the game on Sunday, but I’ve eaten half of it already. It’s fantastic. Those are a couple guys that I truly love and I’m sad to be on the opposite sideline from them.”
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