Taco Charlton claimed by Dolphins - just in time to get his 'honest chance' against the Cowboys

FRISCO - Taco Charlton told me that he wanted to leave the Dallas Cowboys in order to "get somewhere where at least I have an honest chance to get on the field.'' Miami is now that place.

Charlton has been claimed off waivers by the Miami Dolphins, leaving arguably the best team in the NFL for its worst. In talking with Taco during this process - a process that would see the Wednesday release of the 2017 first-round pick - it is clear to me he wishes the Cowboys well and wishes Cowboys Nation well, too. (By the time you read this, maybe he will have tweeted as much. Or maybe the "Free Me'' experience might keep him off social media for a minute.)

"My agent,'' Taco told me as he was about to be released by Dallas, "was told some of the coaches don't like my personality.''

That is all true. Owner Jerry Jones said it to us not long ago in a kinder way, noting, "Taco is hard on himself.'' But the coaches were hard on him, too, of course for his own good. None of it worked.

After this year's second preseason game, in which Charlton probably had his best outing ever, I visited with defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli for an evaluation of Taco's performance.

"Really good,'' Rod told me, "especially the hustle. Did you see the hustle downfield chasing after plays?''

I told Marinelli that yes, in addition to the pass rush and the deflected passes and the run-stopping effort, I did notice Taco's "motor.''

"Yeah, that was great,'' Rod said, then pausing. "But of course, that's what we need from him all the time. You don't get extra credit for that.''

And there is your Taco ending in one sentence. Dallas drafted him out of Michigan as a late first-rounder in part because they (that is, Marinelli's staff and personnel boss Will McClay's, too) liked his "traits.'' The long-bodied defensive end is their "thing.'' But they also drafted him that high -- "too high'' -- because the Cowboys knew they wanted to grab an end and a cornerback ... and they figured rightly that there would be more quality corners later and fewer ends earlier.

So Taco went before second-rounder Chidobe Awuzie, though I bet Chido's grade wasn't far behind Taco's. And Dallas also took another corner, Jourdan Lewis, Taco's Wolverines teammate, even though I bet his grade as a third-rounder wasn't that far being Charlton's, either.

Marinelli today said polite things about Taco and so did Kris Richard. But now it's off to Miami, where my colleague Jeff Cavanaugh suggests to me Taco might instantly be the woeful Dolphins' best pass-rusher. From the penthouse (the 2-0 Cowboys, with whom he's been nothing this year but inactive) to the outhouse (the 0-2 Dolphins) ... but an honest chance.

And no, he's not going to Miami because this week's Dolphins-at-Cowboys game requires the underdog to "pick the brain of an ex-Cowboy to "learn their secrets.'' (That's cheesy-Hollywood-movie gunk.) He's going to Miami because the Dolphins need cheap help (he's got less than $3 mil left on two years' of contract) ... and because he needs a job.

Once upon a time, he was the co-inventor of the "Hot Boyz'' monicker. Now? Taco Charlton wants, and gets, an "honest chance.''