Dave BirkettDetroit Free Press
The Detroit Lions had the NFL’s second-ranked rush defense last season, and there’s reason to believe they’ll be even better in 2024.
The Lions signed former Cincinnati Bengals nose tackle D.J. Reader to a two-year free agent deal Thursday, the fourth significant addition they’ve made to their defense this offseason.
At 6 feet 3 and 335 pounds, Reader was considered one of the best run stoppers available in free agency and should start next to Alim McNeill in the middle of the Lions defensive line this fall.
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"Sometimes things don’t work out in relationships and you've got to move on," Reeder told reporters Thursday. "I’m on to a better opportunity that I'm really, really exited about."
Reeder had 34 tackles and one sack last season, but finished the year on injured reservewith a torn right quad tendon. He also tore his left quad in 2020, and missed six games with a knee injury in 2022.
Reeder, who turns 30 in July, said he's "a little bit ahead of" where he was in his recovery from his first quad injury and expects to be ready for the start of the regular season.
"I think my body knowing what’s going on this time makes it a lot easier for me, and then just where my mindset is," he said. "We were in the middle of COVID last time. Not only was it a depressing time for me, it was a depressing time for the world. We didn’t know what was going on.
"So this time it’s been a lot more lively. I'm around my family, everything's going well and just the grind, I know what it takes, I know what it’s going to feel like. My body’s more familiar about what’s going on, how I'm reacting, all that stuff. So I wouldn’t say it’s been a walk in the park cause rehab’s always tough. It’s always one of the toughest things ever, but I think it’s been good seeing progression every day and I’m happy where I’m at."
Reader had one of the best seasons of his career after his last quad injury, when he had 43 tackles and two sacks to help the Bengals reach the Super Bowl.
He drew parallels Thursday to that season and the situation he's stepping into in Detroit.
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The Lions are coming off a 12-5 season in which they reached the NFC championship game, but entered free agency determined to upgrade their defense. They return three starters up front, McNeill, Aidan Hutchinson and John Cominsky, plus top backup Josh Paschal, but let backup edge rushers Romeo Okwara and Charles Harris test free agency and did not tender nose tackle Benito Jones a contract as a restricted free agent.
The Lions also signed defensive end Marcus Davenport in free agency, traded for cornerback Carlton Davis and signed corner Amik Robertson.
"I think they’re ahead of where I was when I got (to Cincinnati)," Reader said. "I was telling them upstairs, these guys got that same taste in the mouth that I got. I got to a Super Bowl and lost. These guys got to an NFC championship and lost, and so everybody in this building has that same goal to go get that taste out of their mouth. And I’m so ecstatic about that part. I could run through a wall about it right now, cause you don’t get time to right those wrongs and this is an opportunity and I don’t think we’re going to take it lightly as a team to go out there and do our thing."
A fifth-round pick by the Houston Texans in 2016, Reader spent the past four seasons in Cincinnati, where he had 123 tackles, three sacks and started all 44 games he played.
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He was a two-time captain for the Bengals and ranked 11th out of 130 interior defensive lineman by Pro Football Focus last season, when he had 10 quarterback pressures, the second-most of his career.
Linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin said he's looking forward to seeing how the new defensive additions impact the Lions defense this fall.
"I think it’ll be good," he said. "I feel like everyone’s always just kind of rowing in the same direction here. Can’t wait to get those guys on board and everyone start putting that work in together and try to take it further than we did last year."
Contact Dave Birkett atdbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him @davebirkett.
