All Dolphins

Former First-Round Picks at a Crossroads in Miami

Charles Harris and Taco Charlton both are heading into their fourth year in the NFL with their long-term future with the Dolphins very much up in the air

Alain Poupart

Steve Mitchell-USA Today Sports

By Monday, NFL teams will have to decide whether to pick up the fifth-year option on the rookie contracts of 2017 first-round picks, and the Dolphins have two of those players.

One is Charles Harris, who the Dolphins selected with the 22nd overall selection in that 2017 draft. The other is Taco Charlton, who the Dolphins claimed off waivers last September after he let go by the Dallas Cowboys, who had made him the 28th overall pick in 2017.

According to NFL Front Office Insider (and former Dolphins Vice President of Football Operations) Mike Tannenbaum, nine players have had the fifth-year option applied, including two from the Cleveland Browns — defensive end Myles Garrett and tight end David Njoku.

The others are Baltimore Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey, Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end O.J. Howard, Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt, Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Derek Barnett, Houston Texans quarterback DeShawn Watson, Washington Redskins defensive tackle Jonathan Allen and New York Jets safety Jamal Adams.

The Atlanta Falcons and San Francisco 49ers already have announced they will not pick up the fifth-year options on defensive end Takk McKinney and defensive tackle Solomon Thomas, respectively.

Which brings us to Charlton and Harris.

The Dolphins have not made any announcements on either player, but let's just say it would be a shock if the they picked up the fifth-year option on either one.

On the contrary, there's a better chance that both of them won't be on the roster at the start of the 2020 season than there is of the Dolphins picking up either fifth-year option.

Their status on the team already looked tenuous when the 2019 season ended with either being a factor down the stretch, and it's only gotten worse for them since.

Charlton and Harris are edge rushers, and the Dolphins have added veterans Shaq Lawson and Emmanuel Ogbah in free agency before picking up Mountain West Conference all-time sack leader Curtis Weaver in the draft.

After joining the Dolphins, Charlton got off to a great start statistically when he recorded four sacks in his first five games, but he had only one sack the rest of the way and more importantly he was inactive three of the final four games.

As for Harris, he started five of the 14 games he played, but didn't make much of an impact, finishing with 23 tackles, including three for loss, and half a sack.

More telling, Harris averaged 21.5 defensive snaps over his final 11 appearances of the season after reaching 60 in each of the first three games.

The Dolphins likely will give both players a shot at making the 53-man roster next season, but both have to make an impression to extend their stay in Miami.

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Alain Poupart
ALAIN POUPART

Alain Poupart is the publisher/editor of All Dolphins and co-host of the All Dolphins Podcast. Alain has covered the Miami Dolphins on a full-time basis since 1989 for various publications and media outlets, including Dolphin Digest, The Associated Press, the Dolphins team website, and the Fan Nation Network (part of Sports Illustrated). In addition to being a credentialed member of the Miami Dolphins press corps, Alain has covered three Super Bowls (for NFL.com, Football News and the Montreal Gazette), the annual NFL draft, the Senior Bowl, and the NFL Scouting Combine. During his almost 40 years in journalism, which began at the now-defunct Miami News, Alain has covered practically every sport at one time or another, from tennis to golf, baseball, basketball and everything in between. The career also included time as a copy editor, including work on several books such as "Still Perfect," an inside look at the Miami Dolphins' 1972 perfect season. A native of Montreal, Canada, whose first language is French, Alain grew up a huge hockey fan but soon developed a love for all sports, including NFL football. He has lived in South Florida since the 1980s.

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