Back in September of 2019, Dallas Cowboys defensive end Taco Charlton popped onto social media and wrote, “Free Taco,” in a plea to get himself out of Dallas. Charlton had been the first-round pick from Michigan of the Cowboys in 2017, at a time when the Cowboys had put together a very good run of drafts. But Charlton was the exception, and Cowboys defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli found he simply couldn’t use him much.
Charlton had injuries. He did not hustle enough, he did not play with the level of toughness and edge the team sought from its pass-rushers. Charlton was passed on the depth chart and was racking up healthy scratches on game days. He wanted out and finally, after just 27 games on the field, the Cowboys waived him.
It was risky, because Charlton had the athletic ability to handle the position. But after his Cowboys release, he signed with the Dolphins and did not make much of an impact. He bounced to various practice squads and made appearances for the Chiefs, the Steelers and the Bears, never lasting more than a season, and was finally out of the NFL.
Taco Charlton With Dallas Renegades
Charlton is no longer with the Cowboys, but he will be playing football in Dallas in 2026 as he continues to attempt a comeback to the NFL–a longshot at 31 years old. But Charlton will play for the eight-team UFL’s Dallas Renegades after he was picked by the team in the league’s draft.
He will be a teammate of Peyton Hendershot, the former Cowboys tight end who played 17 games as an undrafted rookie in 2022 but was let go after two seasons.
The UFL represents a combined eight-team league after the merging of the USFL and the XFL. The schedule runs from late March into early June, with teams in Dallas, Birmingham, Columbus, Houston, Louisville, Orlando, St. Louis and Washington DC.
Dallas Cowboys Seeking Defensive Fixes
The developments around ex-Cowboys comes as the current Cowboys are still very much in the news, amid the team’s lengthy search for a defensive coordinator. That is obviously a key role for a team that was 32nd in points allowed and 30th in yardage allowed under the since-fired Matt Eberflus last year.
But maybe more important than the coordinator will be fixing the team’s personnel, which never really meshed in 2025. The Cowboys loaded up on defensive linemen with trades that brought in Kenny Clark and Quinnen Williams, but left themselves short just about everywhere else, especially in the defensive backfield and at linebacker.
GettyCowboys former defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus
Cowboys Need Talent Influx
The Cowboys do have two first-round picks this year to address those needs, at No. 12 and No. 20. Dallas most often uses first-round picks for offensive players, and of the four defenders picked in the last 10 years (Charlton, Leighton Vander Esch, Micah Parsons, Mazi Smith) only Parsons panned out–and he was traded before this 2025 season.
As ESPN’s Todd Archer wrote when addressing the biggest draft needs in Dallas: “Anywhere but tackle on defense. Anywhere. The Cowboys have two first-round picks after the Micah Parsons trade and have needs all over the place, except at tackle where they have Quinnen Williams, Kenny Clark and Osa Odighizuwa. There is no way they could rule out taking a pass rusher, cornerback, linebacker or safety. The Cowboys did not affect the passer well enough in 2026, and they did not take the ball away enough either.”
Ex-Cowboys 1st-Round Pick Lands New Job in Comeback Attempt