Thus far, it hasn't been the NFL career Taco Charlton envisioned he'd have when the Dallas Cowboys made him the No. 28 pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. The move was maligned by many from the outset and throughout Charlton's three-year career in North Texas, as the former Michigan standout was unable to climb out of the shadow of a better-performing T.J. Watt, who was taken by the Steelers two picks later.

In the end, lack of production and displeasure with his attitude led to the team benching and ultimately releasing him, with Charlton signing on with the Miami Dolphins shortly thereafter. Despite a career-best season in Miami, he was released there as well, and now readies to suit up for the defending Super Bowl champs in the Kansas City Chiefs.

Head coach Andy Reid is hoping he can pull something out of Charlton others haven't necessarily found, and Charlton believes wholeheartedly that's precisely what will take place. The 25-year-old pass rusher says the Chiefs will get the best version of him, knowing full well he may not get many more chances -- if any -- to continue his NFL career if things don't go swimmingly on his third team in three seasons.

"My foot is on the gas for this one," he said in a conference call, via ESPN. "I'm not saying I gave my full effort everywhere I've been. All situations [prior to now], things came to an end and it was kind of mutual. It wasn't really much of a surprise. ... I was feeling kind of out of position a little bit in the past. This year, I feel like I'll be comfortable and use my talents to the best of my ability."

Charlton already has at least one fan in the locker room by way of Frank Clark, who made a bold proclamation in that he'll help the former first-round pick become "a legend". There's a long way to go for Charlton to achieve such a lofty goal, but Clark is beating the drum for him, having been one of the first to speak with the former Cowboy and Dolphin once he hit free agency.

"[Kansas City] was a place I was looking forward to coming," Charlton said. "Once I [cleared waivers], Frank was on the phone and we were talking. Nothing else really mattered. Money-wise, nothing really mattered. 

"I just wanted to play football and wanted to go to a good situation where I could play some good football and add myself to a good defense."

And, of course, the Chiefs being hot off a Super Bowl LIV win and remaining frontrunners to take Super Bowl LV doesn't hurt.

"It was just everything about the organization," Charlton said. "From hearing how great of a coach Coach Reid is, and then once I talked to Frank, he told me how great of a coach [defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo] is, how great a person he is and how I'd like to play for him. That's all I really needed to hear. Once I got a chance myself to talk to him and talk to [defensive line coach Brendan] Daly, I was more comfortable with coming here. 

"I'm excited to see what I can bring here to Kansas City."

The Chiefs signed Charlton to a one-year deal worth $825,000, which is clear evidence they're not yet willing to make a major investment before seeing if there's more to him than what the Cowboys and Dolphins saw. Such a contract also makes it easy to cut ties with him financially should things not pan out in training camp or during the season, and Charlton is not naive to that reality.

"This is a year to prove myself," he said, via Dani Welniak of KCTV5. "With the right scheme I can show my talent. I'm able to still do a lot of great things on the field."

Clark believes so as well, and the Chiefs are waiting and watching. Charlton joins the team with nine career sacks, five of them having come in 2019.