Dallas Cowboys defensive end Taco clarifies his odd comments about his future in NFL
Taco Charlton didn’t quite stick his foot in his mouth, and while he’s not a wordsmith he was never guilty of a man who had checked out, and or wanted out.
The Cowboys defensive end explained his odd comments made immediately after the team’s first preseason game in Santa Clara, Calif., when he sounded like a guy who expected his future was with a different team.
“I think my message was really (mis)construed,” Charlton said.
Agreed.
After that game on Aug. 10, Charlton said, “Me and my agent got our talks. We hear a lot of things. I go out there with the same thing each time. I try to be the best player on the field. My mentality never changes: I try to dominate the guy I go against. I try to make plays for this team.”
He also said, “We talk and we know stuff like that around the league. We know my value and everything’s good.”
That’s not necessarily bad. What he said, given the circumstances and his time with the team, could easily be taken as a man who thought his time with the team may be limited.
In his first two seasons, he has been good to bad to non-existent, and he’s been benched. Thinking Charlton’s future may be elsewhere is plausible.
I recently asked him if he wanted to clarify those comments.
“In football, there is a business side and a football side of things,” Charlton said. “My mindset on the football field is always the same: dominate. Then there is a business side, and that’s where my agent comes in. It became a little (mis)construed. My mindset never changed. Go out there and try to make plays for this defense and dominate.”
With Randy Gregory and Robert Quinn both suspended to start the regular season, the Cowboys need a player opposite Pro Bowler Tank Lawrence to develop and be a contributor.
Charlton, a former first round pick from Michigan, is the obvious candidate. Dorance Armstrong is there, too.
In the third fake game on Saturday night against the Houston Texans, Charlton played about as well as a defensive end could; he had two sacks, forced one fumble and recovered a fumble.
Following the typical trajectory, the third year is when a player gets it, or he’s been defined. This is Charlton’s third year, and he is showing signs of getting it.
Charlton has clarified his comments, and he’s not looking to, or expecting to, leave.
This story was originally published August 26, 2019 at 9:28 AM.
