The San Francisco 49ers, the defending NFC champions, have had some uncertainty about the upcoming NFL season in the form of Brandon Aiyuk’s contract extension talks and the torn Achilles star linebacker Dre Greenlaw suffered during the Super Bowl.
While they decided to not re-sign safety Tashaun Gipson, Gipson has made the news for the wrong reason, as he has been suspended by the league.
Per Adam Schefter, Gipson, who is currently a free agent, was disciplined because he violated the NFL’s performance-enhancing substances policy.
Free-agent safety Tashaun Gipson was suspended six games due to a violation of the performance enhancing substances policy. https://t.co/bW67oyoyGd
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 2, 2024
Gipson, who will turn 34 years of age in August, started his career with the Cleveland Browns, and he joined the 49ers as a free agent two offseasons ago.
He helped shore up San Francisco’s iffy secondary right away, and he recorded five interceptions and eight passes defended during the 2022 season.
In last season’s Super Bowl, he recorded five tackles (four solo) in the Niners’ 25-22 overtime loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Moving forward, there are still some questions about at least a portion of the Niners’ secondary, but they’re soon set to receive a boost when Talanoa Hufanga, who was a Pro Bowl and All-Pro First Team selection in 2022, makes his way back from an ACL injury.
He suffered the injury late last season, and it was a factor in their Super Bowl loss that hasn’t been talked about a lot.
With defensive end Leonard Floyd on board, perhaps Hufanga can focus more on pass coverage instead of having to occasionally spring forward and help the team’s pass rush, which was unexpectedly weak in 2023.
