Dolphins' Taco Charlton Responds to Jerry Jones' Criticism After Cowboys Cut DE

Taco Charlton made his Miami Dolphins debut Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys, and while the Cowboys walked away with a 31-6 victory, the 24-year-old defensive end said afterward he plans to prove his former team wrong for releasing him Wednesday.

"On the field, if you go three years down the line, we will get to see who is right and who is wrong," Charlton told reporters. "It is on me now. I get to play football, and then I get to get down to what I do."

Charlton's comments came after Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was especially critical when explaining the team's decision to part ways with its 2017 first-round pick, noting that he "wilted" after making mistakes:

Charlton registered two tackles in the game, including a sack on former teammate Dak Prescott, who maintained he "could've thrown it away" rather than let Charlton sack him:

Charlton made his desire to leave Dallas clear on Monday with a since-deleted tweet saying, "free me" (h/t Blogging The Boys).

Prior to the Cowboys cutting him, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported they were trying to find a trade partner.

"One more layer here...Sources tell me Taco Charlton made it clear in the offseason he wanted a trade," Jane Slater of NFL Network added. "I'm told he was part of discussions ahead of preseason cuts but nothing came of it. What is clear is both sides want a fresh start."

After Dallas traded with the Los Angeles Rams for defensive end Robert Quinn in March, the stage was set for Charlton to get squeezed out. His underwhelming production made him expendable, too.

While it only took one game for Charlton to notch a sack as a Dolphin, he only had four sacks in two seasons (27 games) with the Cowboys. In 11 games last season, the Michigan product recorded one sack and 27 tackles (13 solo).

At the very least, Charlton should have more opportunity to play on a depleted Dolphins squad.