EXCLUSIVE: Cowboys 1-on-1 with now-waived DE Taco Charlton: 'I just want an honest chance'

FRISCO - "I'm just trying to get somewhere,'' ousted Dallas Cowboys defensive end Taco Charlton tells me, "where at least I have an honest chance to get on the field.''

On the eve of the Cowboys' Wednesday release of the 2017 first-round pick, Charlton visited with me in the tone that he usually has during the last five months: A combination of frankness, faith and frustration. That's the case now as Charlton exits the Dallas doghouse for what he hopes are bluer skies elsewhere.

"My agent,'' Taco tells me, "was told some of the coaches don't like my personality.''

This much is true, and has been for a while. They find Charlton in frequent need of pushing in terms of his mood and his 'tude. 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.

So expectations cursed Taco. And in the end, under their breath, members of the coaching staff cursed him, too. And when rookie Joe Johnson made the gameday 46 ahead of the inactive Taco, in Weeks 1 and 2? More whispered cursing. By all involved.

Five months ago, on the weekend of the NFL Draft, I wrote about the Taco trade calls that would be made. Dallas would've loved for something to have happened then. Taco would've loved it, too.

Instead, Charlton ends his spotty career in Dallas with one positive legacy: He, as much as DeMarcus Lawrence and anyone else, is an originator of the "Hot Boyz'' idea, a bit of Cowboys D-line bonding (and marketing) fun.

But now, Robert Quinn is back on the roster, eligible for a return from a two-game suspension for violating the NFL’s performance-enhancing substances policy. He gets to be a Hot Boy.

And what does Taco Charlton get?

His "Free Me'' tweet, ill-advised as it was, has become a reality. Taco Charlton's "honest chance'' -- a phrase that I promise you he offered to me with deep meaning -- will land elsewhere, along with his frankness, his faith and his frustration.