Report: Kansas City Chiefs sign former first-round pick DE Taco Charlton
The Kansas City Chiefs have reportedly signed 2017 first-round pick Taco Charlton, who cleared waivers earlier Friday.
Charlton, a first-round pick of the Dallas Cowboys in 2017, was most recently with the Miami Dolphins after being claimed in September, before being released on Thursday.
Charlton's career so far has clearly not lived up to his first-round billing, as he heads to his third team in four seasons. However, highly touted out of Michigan, the Chiefs look to add Charlton to an uncertain group at defensive end. With Tanoh Kpassagnon and Breeland Speaks currently slotted behind Frank Clark and Alex Okafor, a potential Charlton reclamation project seems similar to Brett Veach's strategy with former Browns and current Dolphins DE Emmanuel Ogbah, who was the 32nd overall pick in 2016.
Armando Salguero of The Miami Herald wrote that Charlton, who had five sacks in 10 games with the Dolphins but was inactive for three of Miami's final four games, wasn't acclimating to the team. Salguero notes that "club sources complained Charlton's attitude was not what the Dolphins had hoped."
Here's the backstory on Charlton from Jordan Dajani of CBS Sports:
Charlton was originally drafted with the No. 28 overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys. He showed promise during his senior season at Michigan by recording 10 sacks. Charlton spent the majority of his time in Dallas as DeMarcus Lawrence's backup and eventually his spot on the roster came into question. Two weeks into the 2019 season, the Cowboys made the decision to release him after failing to find a trade partner. In 27 games with the Cowboys, Charlton recorded 46 combined tackles and just four sacks.
Although Charlton played in just 10 games, he finished as the Dolphins' sack leader with five. He seemed to show some improvement during his lone season in Miami, so another team may take a flier on him. The Dolphins clearly viewed him as expendable, however, as they selected former Clemson defensive end Christian Wilkins with the No. 13 overall pick in last year's draft. In 2019, he recorded 56 combined tackles and two sacks in 16 games (14 starts).
As the Chiefs add Charlton to Steve Spagnuolo's typically-deep rotation across the defensive line, it seems like Charlton may have a chance to reboot his career in Kansas City.
