The business side of football won’t come to the foreground until the end of the postseason, and one issue that will be there is the contract extension status of Houston Texans defensive tackle D.J. Reader.
According to a report from the Houston Chronicle’s Aaron Wilson, the two sides aren’t close to an extension as the club prepares to take on the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC divisional playoffs Sunday at 2:05 p.m. CT at Arrowhead Stadium.
However, just because there is a chasm between the Texans and Reader as far as an extension goes doesn’t mean the former 2016 fifth-round pick from Clemson doesn’t want to remain with his original draft team.
“Oh, you know I love it here,” Reader said via Wilson. “I love the fans. I love the organization. They gave me my first real job. I love the city. People love me here. Hopefully, that opportunity comes around.”
From the organization’s point of view, they also highly respect Reader and his contributions.
“D.J. Reader has had a really good year for us,” coach Bill O’Brien told reporters on Jan. 6. “He does a lot of things that, you’re right, don’t show up on the stat sheet. He’s an excellent inside defensive tackle that plays the run very well. He gives us some juice in the passing game.”
Now, it will be up to the Texans to determine just how much bread to give the 6-3, 347-pound defensive lineman. Reader has collected 52 tackles, 2.5 sacks, and six tackles for loss in 15 games for Houston, all of which he started.
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