Former Miami Dolphins defensive end Taco Charlton endured a brief stay in South Florida in 2019 — the former 1st-round pick was a waiver wire claim for the Dolphins in September and offered some pass rush duties before ultimately seeing his reps hoarded by other players towards the end of the 2019 season. Earlier this spring, the Dolphins opted to cut Charlton instead of return him for another season of low cost against the salary cap.
Why didn’t things work? Now with the Kansas City Chiefs, Charlton spoke on his departures from both Dallas and Miami and why things didn’t work out well at either stop. His commentary is quite telling, but probably not for the reasons he intended.
Former first round pick Taco Charlton said his departure from the #cowboys and #dolphins, in both spots was “mutual” & that’s why it wasn’t a surprise when each happened. He feels he was kind of used out of position in the past & in KC’s scheme he thinks he’ll be more comfortable
— James Palmer (@JamesPalmerTV) May 13, 2020
Charlton, who flamed out of two separate teams, is effectively playing the “it’s not me, it’s you” card on both the Dolphins and the Cowboys — which brings to question where exactly Charlton feels the two teams led him astray. If Charlton feels as though his departure was a “mutual” decision, that seems to further back the reports that Charlton was a healthy scratch for the Dolphins at the end of the season on account of a poor attitude.
“Club sources complained Charlton’s attitude was not what the Dolphins had hoped,” wrote the Miami Herald’s Armando Salguero upon Charlton’s dismissal. Further evidence mounts that the problem is indeed rooted in Charlton’s perception of self when considering the rift that was present during Charlton’s stay in Dallas with the Cowboys — so much so that some in Dallas’ building reportedly crafted the nickname “Soft Taco” for Charlton.
Believe it or not, for the Cowboys in the first round in 2017, the call came down to Taco Charlton v. TJ Watt. Some Watt supporters in the room dubbed Charlton "Soft Taco".
The last 3 years would vindicate their assessment. https://t.co/WREYPjfkJd
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) April 30, 2020
Ultimately, Charlton was never going to get a better chance to shine and show his pass rush prowess than the one he received in Miami in 2019 — the Dolphins’ defensive end situation was pitiful. The Dolphins knew that unfortunate truth too, as the team added ends Shaq Lawson and Emannuel Ogbah in free agency and drafted hybrid defenders in Raekwon Davis and Jason Strowbridge plus outside rusher Curtis Weaver in the 2020 NFL Draft.
So while Charlton may be correct in stating that both he and the Dolphins wanted to move on from one another this summer, his perception of self seems to be disconnected from the reality that he’s not buying into team systems or living up to his 1st-round potential. In this case, it is in fact not the Dolphins’ shortcomings that led to a failure for Charlton to work — Charlton will need to look in the mirror on that one.