Like all the other 31 clubs in the National Football League, the Kansas City Chiefs trimmed their preseason roster down from 85 players to 80 on Monday.
Out of the five players that were released, possibly the most shocking name to be on the list was defensive end, Taco Charlton.
“Taco is going to play in the league,” head coach Andy Reid said during his press availability on Monday. “He’s too good of a player not to. 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.”
On Tuesday, Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo took the podium following Kansas City’s practice and was asked about the decision to part ways with the 26-year-old defensive end.
“Those are hard decisions, first of all,” acknowledged Spagnuolo. “Like when I texted him [on Monday] because I didn’t get a chance to see him in the morning, but I had texted him to remember that he helped us win an AFC championship, and sometimes, this happens in the league. But I think more than anything, some of the other guys jumped up and did a nice job. I think what was good, I thought [general manager] Brett [Veach] made a good point: we give Taco a chance to maybe catch on with another team, so I wish him the best.”
As the 2021 53-man roster begins to take shape with just one final week of preseason left before final cuts. Kansas City has previously kept 10 defensive linemen in each of the last two seasons under Spagnuolo.
The choice to move on from Charlton was tough, but it will give several depth guys a chance to shine as true contributors on the active roster.
“You got the next group of guys there,” said Spagnuolo. “You got Demoane (Harris), you got Tim (Ward), you got Josh (Kaindoh). Right? You got a bunch of guys battling for positions.”
Second-year defensive end out of Michigan Mike Danna is another player that hopes to be part of Kansas City’s young nucleus of guys that will help make the d-line in 2021.
“I’ve talked about Mike a lot, you guys know how I feel about him,” said Spagnuolo. “His intelligence, his natural ability. I think what coach Daly and Terry Braden do with him is outstanding. I’ve just seen him [and] you’re talking about a guy that was at Central Michigan that went to Michigan for a year, and he just keeps doing this, and if he can keep doing that, I think he’s going to help us.”
After the Chiefs play the Minnesota Vikings on Friday evening, they will have until August 31 to trim their 80-man roster down to the required 53-player list.
