Chiefs Release Taco Charlton, Four Others

In a move to get to the NFL-mandated 80-man roster before Tuesday's deadline, the Kansas City Chiefs have released five players including defensive end Taco Charlton.

The Chiefs announced their moves on Twitter, releasing the journeyman defensive end along with veteran defensive back Will Parks and veteran guard Bryan Witzmann. The Chiefs also waived linebacker Riley Cole and quarterback Anthony Gordon, apparently ending the team's battle for their third quarterback position and giving the nod to Shane Buchele.

We have released the following players:
DE Taco Charlton
DB Will Parks
G Bryan Witzmann

We waived the following players:
LB Riley Cole
QB Anthony Gordon pic.twitter.com/eoLh8u74cU
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) August 23, 2021

Charlton is certainly the most familiar name from Monday's moves, as he was a first-round pick in 2017 by the Dallas Cowboys before spending a partial season with the Miami Dolphins in 2019 and landing with the Chiefs in 2020. With the return of veteran defensive end Alex Okafor and a positive preseason and training camp for Tim Ward, Charlton lost his roster spot after seeming to be a likely contributor before the preseason.

#ChiefsKindom Thank you for embracing me 🤞🏿 - 🌮
— Taco Charlton (@TheSupremeTaco) August 23, 2021

Charlton is also recovering from a broken ankle fractured during the 2020 season and acknowledged that his ankle "has its good days, has its bad days" during camp.

Taco Charlton tells @SSJWHB his ankle "has its good days, has its bad days." Sounds like he's still working through his recovery on the ankle, but he is practicing.
— Joshua Brisco (@jbbrisco) August 4, 2021

Witzmann was signed late in training camp to provide more veteran offensive line depth for the Chiefs and Parks was signed in May. The Chiefs are clearly choosing to take younger pieces into their last preseason game both on the o-line and in the defensive backfield. Parks's release bodes well for undrafted free agent rookies Devon Key and Zayne Anderson, among the rest of the players competing for one of the Chiefs' final defensive back positions.

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