Anthony Rivardo
The New York Giants finally addressed the hole in the middle of their defensive line, but replacing Dexter Lawrence was never going to be solved by one signing.
D.J. Reader gives the Giants a legitimate veteran nose tackle with size, experience, and a long track record of holding up against the run. That matters. It also does not erase the risk of trading away the most important player on a defense that already had major problems stopping the ground game.
The Giants may have found a short-term answer. The bigger question is whether they found enough of one.
Reader gives the Giants a real nose tackle
Reader’s signing made sense the moment Lawrence was sent to Cincinnati. According to NFL.com, the Giants agreed to a two-year, $12.5 million deal with Reader that can reach $15.5 million through incentives.
That is not superstar money, but it is a meaningful investment in a clear need. Reader is 6-foot-3 and 330 pounds, and the Giants’ official site credited him with 128 starts in 137 regular-season games across his career. His career production includes 328 tackles, 56 quarterback hits, 27 tackles for loss, and 12.5 sacks.
The Giants do not need Reader to become a statistical centerpiece. They need him to hold the point of attack, absorb double teams, and keep linebackers clean enough for the defense to function on early downs.
The Lawrence trade changed the entire equation
The Giants received premium value for Lawrence, landing the No. 10 overall pick from the Bengals in the 2026 NFL Draft. Giants.com confirmed the deal, while NFL.com reported Cincinnati also gave Lawrence a one-year, $28 million extension.
From a roster-building standpoint, the trade is defensible. The Giants added another top-10 pick, created more flexibility, and moved a high-priced veteran after extension talks reached a breaking point.
From a football standpoint, though, Lawrence was not a normal defensive tackle. He was the anchor who allowed the rest of the front to play with more freedom. Losing that kind of player changes how offenses attack the Giants, especially on early downs and short-yardage situations.
That is why Reader cannot be viewed as a one-for-one replacement. He is a strong veteran addition, but he is also 31 years old and coming off a 2025 season in Detroit in which NFL.com noted he had zero sacks and 28 tackles across 17 starts.
But, thankfully, the Giants didn’t just add Reader to the defensive line. They threw assets at the unit, signing Reader, and also signing fellow veterans Leki Fotu, Shelby Harris, and Zacch Pickens. Harris and Reader will both be instant-impact starters on the Giants’ defensive line.
The run defense left no margin for error
The Giants’ biggest issue is not just that Lawrence is gone. It is that the run defense was already near the bottom of the league before the trade.
Per NFL.com’s team stats, New York allowed 2,470 rushing yards, 5.3 yards per carry, and 21 rushing touchdowns in 2025. Pro Football Reference lists the same rushing yardage, touchdown, and yards-per-carry totals.
Those numbers are alarming with Lawrence in the middle. They become even harder to stomach without him.
Reader should help, and PFF still graded him as a useful player last season. He earned a 68.9 overall grade and a 61.7 run-defense grade, with the run-defense mark ranking 36th among qualified interior defenders. That is solid, but it is not enough by itself to guarantee a turnaround.
ESPN’s Jordan Raanan also reported through ABC7 New York that Reader’s 26.0% run stop win rate was below league average and behind Lawrence’s 31.5% mark. That is the gap the Giants are trying to manage.
The interior still feels like a patchwork group
The Giants have added bodies. That part is clear.
Reader joins a defensive interior that also includes young pieces and waiver-wire help. Giants.com confirmed the team claimed Zacch Pickens off waivers from the Kansas City Chiefs, adding another 6-foot-4, 300-pound lineman to the mix.
Pickens has 29 career games, three starts, 44 tackles, 1.5 sacks, and two tackles for loss. He is not a direct answer to the Lawrence problem, but he gives the Giants another rotational option at a spot where they needed more bodies.
Harris is an experienced veteran with 146 games played, 89 career starts, and 358 career combined tackles. He was a starter on the Cleveland Browns’ defensive line for each of the last three seasons.
Along with Harris is the aforementioned Fotu, and returning second-year DT Darius Alexander, whom the Giants drafted in the third round last year. While Alexander struggled against the run as a rookie, he flashed his potential as a pass rusher toward the end of the year.
The Giants have numbers, but the interior still feels like a group built from short-term fixes, projection, and hope. Reader and Harris are the stabilizers. Pickens and Fotu are depth. The rest of the room has to prove it can survive without Lawrence drawing the kind of attention that made everyone else’s job easier.
For the Giants’ coaching staff, the assignment is clear. The Giants do not need to recreate Lawrence with one player, because that player probably is not on the roster. They need the entire interior rotation to become more reliable than it was last season.
Reader gives them a chance to do that. Whether he gives them enough is a much less comfortable question.
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