Tashaun Gipson admitted he was surprised when he was cut by the Texans.
"But this is the NFL," he said. "I’ve been around a long time. I’ve seen crazy things happen. Obviously, we all know what happened with the [DeAndre] Hopkins trade. So I knew then, I’m definitely not safe there."
Sure enough, about a month after Hopkins was traded from Houston, Gipson was cut – one season into a three-year, $22.5 million contract. Before Gipson thought he was committing to a future in Houston, however, there was real conversation about Chicago.
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"I had history with Chicago after last year, when Jacksonville released me, before I signed with the Texans. We kinda had brief conversations," he said. "Last year, the same this year, was kinda like a whirlwind. Obviously, the timing was a little different last year. It was quick. It was right before free agency last year, so we had previously touched base last year. So you know Chicago was definitely a familiar interest dating back to last year. This year, when the opportunity came up again, it was an opportunity I couldn’t pass by."
The Bears clearly weren't going to compete in the safety market at the price, evident by the choice to give HaHa Clinton-Dix a one-year, $5.5 million contract. With Clinton-Dix now on the Cowboys and Gipson the latest example of whatever's happening in Houston, revisiting those original conversations helped make it a natural fit.
"When that all happened, it went down the way it went down. I wasn’t upset about it honestly," he said. "I understand that’s the business direction that they wanted to go in to, and, obviously, I wasn’t a part of their plans, and God had bigger plans for me. Obviously, I landed here in Chicago and I couldn’t be more excited. So it’s part of the process. You never want to be that casualty, but at the end of the day, sometimes you’ve got to look in the mirror and say, man, this was probably best for both sides. I’m here now and I’m excited to make my impact with the organization here in Chicago.”
Gipson halfway admitted that he expects to be a starter with the Bears, which is already the general consensus. Despite having to meet most of his teammates over Zoom calls, he does already have some familiar faces in Halas Hall. Nickel corner Buster Skrine is one of Gipson's best friends going back to the pair's days on Cleveland's special teams unit in 2012. And while reuniting with Skrine is a definite perk, playing behind the Bears' front seven is what sealed the whole deal.
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"That’s a DB’s dream, obviously," he said. "Any time you can have those types of dogs up front, because a quarterback can only hold the ball so much. With that rush and that front seven, it’s always going to include and have opportunities on the back end. Everybody knows the thing that prides us most is we truly want to make sure we can get our hands on the ball. That’s the biggest thing right now, and, obviously, that’s one of the things we talked about when I signed here, was ball awareness and turnovers, man.
"That’s the thing this Chicago defense has prided themselves on over the past couple of years. And being able to come in here, and step into this and add to that is only a blessing. I’m hoping this is beneficial to everyone involved. "