Getty Images The Chiefs signed DE Taco Charlton on May 2, just two days after being waived by the Dolphins.
On May 2, the Kansas City Chiefs dipped into the free agent talent pool to acquire former Dallas Cowboys first-round pick DE Taco Charlton. Ten days later, contract details for the talented 25-year-old pass rusher have been made public.
On Tuesday morning, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported that Charlton’s new deal is worth $825K over one year, while Over The Cap confirms that the contract does not include any guaranteed money.
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The total value of the contract re-emphasizes the low risk, high reward nature of the transaction for Kansas City. Charlton, who now joins his third NFL team in four seasons after streaky production and personality clashes in previous locker rooms, will have an opportunity to reset his market as an unrestricted free agent in 2021 as a part of an established, Super Bowl-caliber defense.
How Does Charlton Fit In?
The No. 28 overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft spent the 2019 season with the Dolphins after being waived by Dallas only two seasons into his rookie deal. While Charlton enjoyed somewhat of a statistical resurgence on the field in Miami with a career-high 5.0 sacks in only 10 games, ESPN’s Cameron Wolfe previously reported that “the writing was on the wall” after the defensive end was a healthy scratch for three of the Dolphins’ final four games of the regular season.
Charlton will now be reunited with sixth-year DE Frank Clark, a former college teammate at Michigan, in addition to other established veterans along the Chiefs front-seven, including Chris Jones, Mike Pennel and Alex Okafor.
According to the Chiefs official website roster, the team has not yet revealed which jersey number the fourth-year pro will wear in 2020.
Chiefs Give Rookie QB Three-Year Deal
One day after Kansas City added Charlton into the mix on defense, the defending Super Bowl champions made a move on the offensive side of the ball, agreeing to a deal with undrafted rookie QB Shea Patterson. The former Michigan standout, who in 2019 became only the third quarterback in the university’s history to throw for 3,000-plus yards in a single season, is now the fourth quarterback on roster behind Patrick Mahomes, long-time veteran Chad Henne and former XFL star Jordan Ta’amu.
While terms of Patterson’s contract were not initially made available, Over The Cap now shows that sides agreed to a three-year deal worth $2.28 million in total. Like Charlton, the rookie signal caller’s deal features no guaranteed money which allows the organization to avoid potential negative salary cap effects.
The 23-year-old is expected to compete for snaps throughout the offseason, with an outside chance at challenging for the No. 3 position on the depth chart. Although Patterson had to adjust to four different offensive coordinators during his collegiate career, he brings experience in a pro-style system similar to what Andy Reid and the Chiefs currently run.
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