Former First-Round DE Released in Chiefs’ Latest Roster Moves

The Taco Charlton experiment is officially over in Kansas City. Ahead of Tuesday’s deadline of an 80-man roster, the Chiefs released the former first-round pick and four other players. Joining the 26-year-old looking to land on a team by Week 1 are safety Will Parks and guard Bryan Witzmann. The back-to-back AFC champions also waived rookie Riley Cole and quarterback Anthony Gordon.

This move is certainly a surprise for both Chiefs fans and football analysts. Picked 28th overall in the 2017 draft, Charlton spent two seasons with the Dallas Cowboys before being claimed off waivers by the Miami Dolphins. Though it looked to be a promising comeback for the Michigan product, he lasted just one season in South Beach and left in the 2020 offseason.

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With Gordon out, this leaves the Chiefs with three quarterbacks on the team: Patrick Mahomes, Chad Henne and rookie Shane Buechele.

Injuries Likely Played a Role in Charlton’s Development

Charlton joined the Chiefs on May 4, 2020. After two promising games, including one against the New England Patriots where a clutch fumble on Brian Hoyer prevented the Patriots from scoring, he suffered a LCL sprain against the Buffalo Bills and didn’t play the following two games. After fracturing his ankle against the Carolina Panthers, Charlton was placed on injured reserve in November 2020.

During his time in Arrowhead, he recorded seven tackles, two sacks, and a forced fumble in seven games.

All NFL franchise must cut their preseason roster down to 80 players by Tuesday’s 4 p.m. ET deadline, so Kansas City are well ahead of the competition. Hopefully this early move will allow other teams in need of defensive help to hold meetings with Charlton and bring him on with enough time to practice. Kansas City will have to part ways with another 27 players by the following Tuesday, August 31, when 53-man rosters are due before the regular season begins in September.

Charlton Thanks KC on Twitter

In a tweet shortly after news broke, Charlton thanked Chiefs Kingdom for “embracing” him, ending the message with his signature sign-off: the taco emoji.

“#ChiefsKindom Thank you for embracing me – ,” the Ohio native wrote.

Charlton fully embraced the “taco” brand, even going so far as getting a diamond taco chain.

According to his mother, the name “Taco” was picked out before he was even born.

“Taco was a premature baby, so I was on bed rest the complete time,” his mother, Tamara, explained to ESPN’s Todd Archer in 2017. “It was during the era when Taco Bell had the commercial ‘Rushing for the Border.’ My mom said, ‘He’s rushing for the border trying to get out.’ And she just started calling him ‘Taco,’ so on my card she would write, ‘Just hang in there. It’s for Taco.’ Before he was even out, his name was Taco, and it always stuck with him.”

A fitting name for a standout player. Given his thirst for success, Charlton won’t be without a team for much longer.

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