D.J. Reader was the highest profile free agent the Bengals have brought in for a very long time.
Reader was considered by most to be the top defensive tackle in free agency when the Bengals signed him to a four-year, $53 million contract.
Not only was Reader a high quality signing, but he represented a change in the Bengals’ front office philosophy. In the past, the Bengals would have preferred to come out of free agency net negative so they could acquire compensatory picks and build through the draft. But instead, the signed the best player they could at a position they needed.