Tashaun Gipson

Tashaun Gipson will likely be lost in free agency.

(John Kuntz, Cleveland.com)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Browns safety Donte Whitner talked to safety Tashaun Gipson over the weekend and got the impression from the pending free agent that he's gone.



"I want to be hopeful,'' Whitner said Monday during the Cleveland Auto Show at the I-X Center. "But knowing him as a personal friend, having our conversations. I don't think that he's too hopeful that he's going to be back. So we'll see where it goes.

"There's still a lot of time till free agency, till you have to put the tag on guys and so on and so on. But from our personal conversations, I really don't (think he'll be back). But hopefully that can change."



The deadline applying the franchise and transition tag is 4 p.m. Tuesday and the Browns are not expected to tag Gipson -- or any of their other free agents. The franchise number for safeties is $10,806,000 and the transition number is $9,116,000. The Browns would pay Gipson that sum for 2016 unless they reached a long-term deal.



If they don't re-sign him by March 9th, he'll hit the market, and teams can close a deal with him that day. Other clubs can also enter into negotiations with his agent, Jared Fox, on March 7th.



Whitner believes it would be a blow to lose the 2014 Pro Bowler.



"I do,'' he said. "Just knowing what he can do on the football field when he's healthy, when he's in the right situation how he likes to go and attack the football, how he attacks his work every day, still being a young safety and being able to produce in this league, and still having a lot to learn, I think it will be a blow, but that's what this league is about.



"Sometimes you lose players, you have to develop players, sometimes you have to bring guys in, free agency, so I really don't know the plan, but me personally, I do think it would be a blow.''



If the Browns lose Gipson, fourth-year safety Jordan Poyer will likely replace him.

As of last week, Gipson hadn't heard anything from the Browns and was preparing to move on. The Browns met with the agents of their free agents at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis, but they aren't believed to have made any progress on an deal for Gipson.



Despite Gipson's injury-marred season, the demand will still be high for a ballhawking safety who's intercepted 13 passes over the past three seasons -- one of the highest totals in the NFL during that span. For comparison's sake, Patriots' safety Devin McCourty, who signed a lucrative free agent deal last offseason, has totaled four picks in his last three seasons.

Browns defensive coordinator Ray Horton will try to get the most out of all the big-name players that underachieved in 2015.

A year ago, McCourty signed a five year deal worth $47.5 million, including $28.5 million guaranteed. The contract made him the second highest paid safety in the NFL with an average of $9.5 million a year. Gipson had his sights set on McCourty money before last season.

In addition, Gipson's former teammate, cornerback Buster Skrine, signed a four-year deal last offseason with the Jets worth $25 million, including $13 million guaranteed. The deal averages $6.25 million a year.

During his introductory press conference last week, Horton made it clear he'd like to have Gipson back.

"I always from the moment I met him appreciated his ability on the field and in the classroom - some things don't get translated and you don't see that,'' he said. "I loved who he was as a young man. I believe he is a free agent. Those things in the NFL business take care of themselves. I always have appreciated him when I was in the building, and I appreciated him from afar."

Gipson reiterated the day after the season that he wants to be back.

"I've expressed how much I want to be in the city of Cleveland, and I'm definitely still very profound with that, that I do want to be here, but at the end of the day, I do have to do what's best for me and my career,'' he said. "Ultimately, if the coach wants me around here, I think things will get done. If not, then we'll see how it works out.

"As cliche as it may sound, I'll be excited to be here if I'm here. If I'm not, I still will always wish and hope that the Browns have success because they deserve it.''

Gipson acknowledged that winning is important to him, but that he'd prefer to do his winning here.

"I truly love being here,'' he said. "I truly love the city and I want to be a part of it, man, when we go from worst to first. I want to be a part of that when it happens. But, you know, a lot of things go into this free agency, man, and we'll see how the chips fall.''