BREAKING -Odd-man out: Taco Charlton absent from practice as Cowboys plot goodbye, sources say

FRISCO - As a Drake lyric blared on The Star practice field speakers - "Tell me what's really goin' on?'' - the Dallas Cowboys began practice without doghoused defensive end Taco Charlton. And their practices are about to remain that way, as the former first-round pick is scheduled to be off the roster today, two sources tell CowboysSI.com.

By 3 p.m., 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. Dallas grappled with a handful of options here ... but Taco, who has fallen in disfavor with the defensive coaching staff, is the odd-man out.

Frankly, while Charlton is certainly disappointed that this did not work for him -- Cowboys coaches grew frustrated with trying to constantly remind him to keep his attitude and energy positive -- I can tell you he is also excited to escape this situation.

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' 2-0 start.

Said owner Jerry Jones in his 105.3 The Fan response: “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.”

"Free Me'' didn't help. But even as in the 11 a.m. hour a team source tells me "We're still making decisions,'' this was already a lost cause, Taco himself recognizing the writing on the wall when, as he told me, he was virtually never allowed to practice with even the second team in the last two weeks of work.

"All I want is a chance to play,'' Charlton told me a few days ago. And now he will get that chance ... because now he knows what's really goin' on.