Did the Bengals Make a Mistake By Picking Sheldon Rankins Over DJ Reader?

CINCINNATI — It turns out DJ Reader was in the Cincinnati Bengals’ price range, but the defensive tackle’s tenure with the team is finished after signing a two-year contract to join the Detroit Lions.

Reader’s incentive-laden deal is worth “up to” $27.5 million, per a report from NFL Networks’ Ian Rapoport. That’s just $1.5 million shy of the two-year, $26 million Cincinnati gave defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins on Wednesday night.

Rankins gives Cincinnati some much-needed help with the interior pass rush, but their biggest need is what Reader leaves behind: a massive, people-moving, run-stuffing nose tackle.

Cincinnati Bengals Let DJ Reader Get Away

Gauging his value on his production when healthy would have netted something in the same price range, and that was not something the Bengals were interested in doing, especially with Reader turning 30 in July.

But offering Reader what the team gave Rankins could have kept him in Cincinnati, something he said he was hopeful would happen when the season ended.

Teair Tart is visiting the Bengals today and could end up being Reader’s replacement as the nose tackle, but the production on the field is only part of what Cincinnati will need to replace.

"That we're resilient. We got a lot of guys who, when backed into a corner, are ready to fight."@AdamHBeasley asked #Bengals DT D.J. Reader what last year's run revealed about the team 🔊#PFNTCTour pic.twitter.com/b9I7bCzoKz

— Pro Football Network (@PFN365) August 4, 2022

Reader was the first big free agent signing of the Bengals’ renaissance, arriving in Cincinnati on a four-year, $53 million contract a month before the team drafted Joe Burrow in 2020.

The 335-pound Reader wasn’t voted a captain in that first season, but he unquestionably was one of the team’s biggest leaders.

Unfortunately for Reader, his first season with the Bengals ended in Week 5 when he tore his left quad.

His Cincinnati career ended with a torn quad as well, this time his right one in Week 14.

The nine-month standard recovery time for that type of injury injected a massive variable into Reader’s free agency. The Bengals were hopeful other teams would shy away, and they would be able to scoop him up for a lower cost after organizations blew through their available cap space.

But Reader’s visit to Detroit went well enough that the Lions were willing to bet on his recovery.

While it’s a huge loss for the Bengals, it at least removes the uncertainty of whether Reader would be available — and for how much — down the road. It’s full steam ahead for the Cincinnati front office to find a run-stopper.

Director of player personnel Duke Tobin and defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo both took turns emphasizing the importance of the role while speaking at the Combine in Indianapolis last week.

“We want to build the line of scrimmages. (Defensive tackle) is a part of the line of scrimmage,” Tobin said. “Maybe the most important part of the line of scrimmages is being able to hold up against the run. We play in a physical division. Teams are going to run the ball at us. We need guys in there that can play the run and we need somebody that can affect the passer.”

“It is a position we are looking at,” he continued. “It’s a position of need. It’s always a position of need. I don’t know that I would ever stand up here and say D-line is not position of need and offensive line is not a position of need. They are always going to be a position of need. It’s just a matter of being the right guy at the right time.”

The time wasn’t right for Reader, even if the price was.

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