Why couldn’t the Houston Texans pay defensive tackle D.J. Reader a contract extension and keep him out of free agency?
Must be the money.
According to coach and general manager Bill O’Brien, the Texans just couldn’t come to an agreement with Reader financially.
“There are certain guys that we just couldn’t do it financially,” O’Brien said on a conference call with season ticket holders on April 3. “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.”
The former 2016 fifth-round pick from Clemson signed a four-year, $53 million contract with the Cincinnati Bengals to become the highest paid defensive tackle in the NFL. Reader is scheduled to make close to $13.3 million annually from his contract.
To fill the void, Houston signed former Baltimore Ravens and Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Timmy Jernigan.
“We just added Timmy Jernigan, who we think is a really good defensive lineman,” said O’Brien.
O’Brien expects Jernigan to play multiple spots in first-year defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver’s defensive line, including three-technique and nose tackle.
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