Saints sign former first-round pick Taco Charlton
The New Orleans Saints needed help for their pass-rush and decided to take a flier on a former first-round draft pick who has yet to play to the value of that selection.
Per Saints insider Nick Underhill and Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk, the Saints have signed defensive end Taco Charlton. Charlton took to Twitter to confirm the news, and the Saints later announced the acquisition via their website:
Financial details of the deal are unknown:
Charlton first entered the NFL when the Dallas Cowboys chose him 28th overall in the 2017 draft, but the 27-year-old struggled with that franchise during his first two pro seasons and was released early into the 2019 campaign. He has since bounced around the league and completed stints with the Miami Dolphins, Kansas City Chiefs, and Pittsburgh Steelers.
Charlton's best season, to date, occurred in 2019 when he recorded five sacks with the Dolphins. Since that time, however, he's added just 2.5 quarterback takedowns to his career total, including one-half a sack with the Steelers across 11 games during the 2021 campaign.
In all, Charlton has accumulated 11.5 sacks, 92 total tackles, four forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, three pass breakups, and 12 tackles for loss since the start of the 2017 season.
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