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Bears poach backup DE Taco Charlton from the Saints practice squad

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Well that’s unexpected. The New Orleans Saints practice squad lost backup defensive end Taco Charlton on Wednesday to the Chicago Bears, ESPN’s Courtney Cronin reports, who are signing Charlton to their 53-man roster. The former Dallas Cowboys first-round pick played well for the Saints in their preseason games but hadn’t been activated during the regular season with Cameron Jordan (72.4% of snaps), Marcus Davenport (51.3%), Tanoh Kpassagnon (29.5%), and Carl Granderson (29.3%) seeing the majority of time at defensive end.

Charlton was one of several players listed at defensive end on the practice squad, along with 2022 draft pick Jordan Jackson and early-season free agent pickup Jabari Zuniga. He’ll have an opportunity to hit the field on Sundays with Chicago, whereas in New Orleans he was buried on the depth chart behind the aforementioned players and 2021 first rounder Payton Turner (22.4% of snaps played).

So will the Saints make an addition after losing Charlton? Maybe, maybe not. They have the numbers at defensive end to absorb the loss, and there are other position groups that might be a higher priority (like the offensive line). We’ll keep an eye out for movement in case they do want to restock the depth chart.

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