Cowboys' Taco Charlton Deletes Tweet Asking for Release Amid Trade Rumors

Dallas Cowboys defensive end Taco Charlton tweeted "Free me" in response to the team's chief operating officer, Stephen Jones, discussing why he's been inactive for the first two weeks of the season, though he later deleted the post, according to Todd Archer of ESPN.  

He followed that up with another tweet: 

"Some of it is just flexibility, position flex when you're talking about the backup role," Stephen Jones said during an appearance on 105.3 FM The Fan Monday afternoon, discussing Charlton being inactive. "Certainly that's where Taco is and I think our feeling has been that Joe Jackson can play both sides. We've been having Taco more one-sided. And, so, it's just a matter of finding the right time and place to get that going again."

According to reports, Charlton has been seeking a trade since this offseason, though to this point the Cowboys have abstained from dealing or releasing him:

His career in Dallas has been a disappointment. Charlton, 24, was a first-round pick by the Cowboys in 2017, though in 27 games (seven starts) he's managed just 46 tackles, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and four sacks. Not exactly the level of production a team wants from a first-round defensive end. 

And the Cowboys have solid depth at the position, especially with Robert Quinn returning from a two-game suspension to start the year. While Tyrone Crawford is dealing with an aggravated hip, the Cowboys still have DeMarcus Lawrence, Kerry Hyder and Dorance Armstrong Jr. available at defensive end.

That has made Charlton expendable enough to be inactive for two weeks in a row, though apparently not expendable enough to release. Team owner Jerry Jones declined to speak on the topic after Sunday's 31-21 win over Washington.

"We are not getting into that at all in any way," he said, per Archer. "I know there is some discussion. We don't get into that."