Getty Chiefs defensive end Taco Charlton engages with Buffalo Bills offensive lineman Dion Dawkins.
One of the toughest decisions NFL teams have to make in 2021 is which players to cut from their rosters prior to their final preseason games. Per the new NFL protocols, teams have to shave their rosters down from 85 to 80 players by 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 24.
For the Kansas City Chiefs, they had their decision made on which players they would let go by Monday, with one name among the players released sticking out — Taco Charlton.
Charlton, a former first-round pick that played in seven games for the Chiefs last season, didn’t even make it until the last round of preseason cuts. Why? Chiefs head coach Andy Reid was asked about the decision to cut Charlton prior to Kansas City’s final preseason game.
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Plethora of Talent
“Yeah, that was really it. Listen, Taco is going to play in the league. He’s too good of a player not to,” Reid told the media of Charlton following Monday’s walkthrough. “It just didn’t work out in this case, and the way these cuts are set up, it’s a little different than in years past, so you have to make these decisions. That obviously was a tougher decision. I’m hoping he hooks on with somebody or maybe eventually comes back here. But right now, just that he hooks on and continues to make a living at this.”
The beginning of Reid’s comment where he said “Yeah, that was really it,” was in response to a reporter asking if Charlton being cut had to do with young talent like Tim Ward and Mike Danna playing well between last year and this summer. That highlights the plethora of talent the Chiefs have along the defensive line heading into the 2021 regular season.
There are already three roster spots undoubtedly locked up at defensive end because of Chris Jones, Frank Clark, and Alex Okafor. Then you add in a 2020 fifth-round pick in Danna, Ward — who played for the team as an undrafted rookie since 2019, and Joshua Kaindoh — a fourth-round pick this year for Kansas City, and that may already be too many heads to fit on the 53-man roster. So it was very hard to find a spot for Charlton, who didn’t impress enough during the preseason to merit staying on the roster.
Charlton’s Career Thus Far
Charlton was selected as the 28th overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys. During his two seasons in Dallas, the Michigan product played in 27 games, recording 28 tackles, 11 quarterback hits, eight tackles for loss, and four sacks, per Pro Sports Reference. During the 2019 season with the Miami Dolphins, Charlton recorded 14 tackles, five sacks, and three tackles for loss.
Kansas City signed Charlton to a one-year deal in May of 2020. During the seven games played last season, he registered four tackles and two sacks, and earned a 67.6 overall grade from PFF.
Final Cutdown
NFL teams are required to shave their rosters from 80 to 53 players by 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 31. All teams have one final preseason game before they are required to decide which final 27 players must be removed from their roster.