Should the Dolphins trade, waive or keep DE Taco Charlton?

What should the Miami Dolphins opt to do with defensive end Taco Charlton, who is entering the final year of his contract?

The Miami Dolphins’ roster reclamation extends well beyond just adding new players via the NFL Draft or picking up key veterans in free agency. The Dolphins are also tasked with making some key personnel decisions with players still on the roster — but may not make sense to keep in the picture.

One of those players is defensive end Taco Charlton, who was brought in after Week 2 of the 2019 season as a waiver wire addition courtesy of the Dallas Cowboys. The good news? Charlton played 10 games with Miami and ended the season as the team’s leading sack artist with 5 sacks. The bad news? Charlton was a healthy scratch for several late games in the 2019 season and his 5 sacks aren’t fully indicative of how irregular his pass pressure was throughout the course of the season.

Could the Dolphins be tempted to use him as a trade chip? Sure, the Dolphins have already proven that there’s no one that would be off limits for the right price and Charlton is an expendable player. If anyone wanted to really trade for Charlton, they’d probably have struck a deal when Dallas was shopping him last fall.

Which leaves Miami with a debate of whether Charlton, with a cap hit under $1.9M for 2020, brings them more value on the roster or if that money (none of which is guaranteed) would be better spent elsewhere.

Given the amount of holes on Miami’s roster and the imminent departure of DE Charles Harris, Charlton brings some value to the Dolphins as cheap, young talent. And while Harris has three seasons of disappointment in Miami, Charlton has played just over half a season with the Dolphins and managed to scratch out some production along the way.

This is a low risk keep for the Dolphins — Charlton should be on the roster in 2020.

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