The first day of free agency was quiet for the New Orleans Saints, who lost a couple of backups on defense to other teams — but things could pick up as we enter the second day of the NFL’s legal negotiating window. Could the Saints finally make a move to improve their team?
Pro Football Focus analyst Brad Spielberger has a suggestion, pointing to the Saints’ mediocre run defense as an obvious problem. Spielberger writes that former Cincinnati Bengals defensive tackle D.J. Reader would make sense for New Orleans:
Only injuries slowed Reader down in Cincinnati. Otherwise, he was a dominant force on the interior of a talented defensive line that was able to control the line of scrimmage and win big games up front over the past few seasons. The eighth-year veteran was the anchor in the middle. Reader is as stout as they come and nearly impossible to displace by just one blocker. And while he’ll never fill up the stat sheet with sacks, he can push the pocket and free up teammates as well as any nose tackle. Reader, unfortunately, suffered a torn quadriceps injury in Week 15 that knocked him out for the remainder of the season. We will await more details on the recovery process before changing his projection, but the injury could obviously impact his market.
Reader’s ability to stop the run would be a welcome addition to a team that ranked in the middle of the pack in PFF run-defense grade.
Reader hasn’t played a full season since 2018, back before the NFL expanded to a 17-game regular season. But he wouldn’t be asked to play as many snaps in the Saints’ rotation with Bryan Bresee, Nathan Shepherd, and Khalen Saunders as he has been in Kansas City. Reader has averaged 51.8, 39.3, 37.1, and 38.2 snaps per game through four years with the Bengals.
Here’s how many snaps per game the Saints’ top four defensive tackles averaged last year:
- Nathan Shepherd: 34.9 (51.1% on running downs)
- Bryan Bresee: 31.7 (27.5% on running downs)
- Khalen Saunders: 30.8 (52.9% on running downs)
- Malcolm Roach: 24.2 (47.9% on running downs)
Roach is a free agent himself, so if he’s on the way out then there’s a clear void for Reader to fill. He’ll turn 30 this year and can clearly still play at a high level when healthy, so limiting his snaps in the rotation would help protect him from injury and keep everyone fresh. Bresee was a liability against the run last year, which is why the Saints focused on playing him against the pass, so Reader could shore up that weakness, too.
The move would make sense, but the money would need to check out, and it’s unclear what Reader’s seeking in a new contract. We’ll have to wait and see if anything materializes here but it’s a good suggestion.
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