When the Giants first connected with D.J. Reader, the plan put forth to him was one of partnership, not replacement.
The plan was more about addition, not substitution.
The Giants wanted to put Reader’s enormous 330-pound body alongside Dexter Lawrence’s massive 340-pound (that’s a modest estimate) frame and have at it with an interior of a defensive line designed to simulate the Cross Bronx Expressway at rush hour (or darn near every other hour of the day or night). Immovable.
That was the pitch from the Giants to Reader.
“I think most of the conversations were just more about adding to the room, whatever was in the room,’’ Reader said this week.
At the time, Lawrence was still in the room, technically.
He was under contract for two more seasons but wanted more money and stayed away from the offseason workout program.
Reader did not delve too deeply into what eventually turned into the Great Divide between Lawrence and the Giants, but he did know something was amiss and that the two sides might not figure out a way to stay together.
“I knew it was a possibility of going through what they were going through with Dex,’’ Reader said. “So that was what it was.
“It would be cool, obviously, to play with him. Got a chance to text him and talk to him. It wasn’t something that played too deep into my decision. It was more so I wanted to be in a place with some good pieces.’’
The Giants eventually traded the disgruntled Lawrence to the Bengals in return for the No. 10 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, which they used on Sisi Mauigoa, who is working as the starting right guard.
The need for Reader grew and the Giants signed him to a two-year deal worth $12.5 million, with $5.25 million in guaranteed money.
It can be looked at as a one-year commitment for $6.25 million, as the Giants after the 2026 season can get out of the contract with minimal hardship — a dead-money cost of $1.75 million.
Reader, who turns 32 on July 1, chuckled when his role, now that Lawrence is gone, was brought up.
“I’m not necessarily his replacement,” Reader said.
Actually, he is.
Both Reader and Lawrence played at Clemson. Lawrence in 2019 was a first-round pick of the Giants and Reader in 2016 was a fifth-round pick of the Texans. They are not comparable players, given their impact on defenses in their careers.
Lawrence has 30.5 sacks in 109 games, all with the Giants. Reader has 12.5 sacks in 137 games with the Texans, Bengals and Lions. Lawrence, 28, has three Pro Bowls on his résumé. Reader has none.
Lawrence faced double-team blocks at one of the highest rates in the entire league. Reader, too, was often given special attention, but not as regularly. In 2025, considered a down year for Lawrence, he graded out by Pro Football Focus as the NFL’s ninth-best defensive lineman. Reader was 30th.
“I don’t know what he was like in Detroit last year, it didn’t seem like he was great,’’ Brian Baldinger, an NFL Network analyst and former NFL offensive lineman, told The Post. “He’s been in the league a long time, but he’s been that guy for his career, been a handful for any good offensive guard to handle in this league. He’s incredibly strong and powerful and they need him to be really good and to play 50 percent of the snaps. Dexter played a lot more than that. They need him to be really good on first and second down.’’
Reader was expected to line up on the interior next to Roy Robertson-Harris, who started all 17 games for the Giants in 2025, but Robertson-Harris went down this spring with a torn Achilles tendon. The options alongside Reader are free agent additions Shelby Harris and Leki Fotu and Darius Alexander, the 2025 third-round pick. The Giants selected rookie defensive tackle Bobby Jamison-Travis in the sixth round.
After he arrived, Reader looked at those around him on the defense.
“You kind of realize we have some pieces here that are really, really special that you don’t have at a lot of places,” he said.
It is Reader’s job to man the middle so that the guys on the outside — Brian Burns, Abdul Carter, Kayvon Thibodeaux and, often, rookie linebacker Arvell Reese — will pile up sacks.
“I’ve always had good edges,’’ Reader said. “I think my edges usually have good seasons when they play with me.”
