Cowboys Quinn coming up; roster move comes down to Taco and 2 other guys

FRISCO - Jerry Jones his scouting department would "give its right arm'' for Taco Charlton to become the player they envisioned the 2017 first-round pick would be. But today, by 3 p.m., it's not a limb Dallas is considering losing; it's Taco.

Robert Quinn is back at The Star, eligible for a return from a two-game suspension for violating the NFL’s performance-enhancing substances policy. Quinn, who also fractured his hand last month in training camp and had surgery, will be activated today by a 3 p.m. NFL deadline.

Coach Jason Garrett is effusive in his praise of the newcomer, acquired in an offseason trade from the same 0-2 Miami team that Dallas plays host to on Sunday.

“He’s a really good player,” Garrett said of Quinn. “He’s a very good pass rusher. He’s demonstrated that throughout his career, and he’s a really willing run defender. He’s been really active doing that throughout his career. Sometimes those guys are viewed as, ‘Hey, I just get the quarterback and let the other guys do the dirty work.’ But he’s demonstrated that he’s willing to defend blocks, do a good job defending his gaps and going and making plays on the ball in the running game. We’re excited to get him back in here.”

Meanwhile, excited to be plotting his escape is Taco Charlton, one of the three names being considered here inside the building to be moved in favor of Quinn. Charlton, his representatives and the Cowboys have been talking about trading him since April. This week, Taco tweeted “Free me” on Monday in response to a tweet with comments from COO Stephen Jones on why he's not been on the 46-man gameday roster during Dallas' 0-2 start.

The Cowboys have tried to trade him, and continue to do so. I believe there are two interested teams ... but I believe both of them wonder if they should give up anything to get him when being waived is his destiny.

Given Tyrone Crawford's hip injury (playing 0-2 Miami might be an opportunity for Crawford to join the list of sidelined Cowboys this week), there will be an argument to hang onto Taco. But that argument will not be made by the defensive coaching staff. Thus Jerry's reference to "the scouting department.''

"The team that has you wants you to play,'' Jones said on 105.3 The Fan. "They’re paying you a lot of money, or they’ve got a lot invested in you to play. I can tell you right now, our scouting department would give their right arm for Taco to step out here and a major light come on, which he’s very capable of ... Scouting is rooting for him more than his family is.”

Skip over that last bit of hyperbole to understand that the roster move will be an in-house group decision. Jerry just told you what the scouting department prefers. Offensive lineman Adam Redmond is another candidate. (The coaching staff likes Brandon Knight a bit better, and Joe Looney does all the things Redmond does, only better.) Dallas has also been trying to trade Redmond for a pick.

And I'll mention tight end Dalton Schultz, only because colleague Bryan Broaddus has brought up the name. He's the third-stringer and little-used. But is Dallas willing to go thin at that spot? Can "third-string tight end'' be an interchangeable thing, grab a guy from the practice squad here, give some snaps to Jamize Olawale there?

If the cut is Redmond, it won't produce headlines. if they cut is Taco? The "Free Me'' thing probably didn't help an already lost cause.

Said Jerry: “I can’t tell you the teams that have said to me, ‘Boy, that’s the last thing I need is somebody that would put his business out there like that and talk about it in public. I don’t want him either.’ Usually, it’s a rule around the NFL that if they’ll act that way with the team they’re with, they’ll act that way with the team that I’m managing.”

Taco's business is out there, dangling, like the scouting department's "right arm'' ... like Taco's career in Dallas.