49ers welcome back safety Tashaun Gipson for another one-year run

SANTA CLARA – Tashaun Gipson Sr. waited until August for the 49ers to sign him last summer. On the eve of another trip into free agency, Gipson re-signed with the 49ers on Sunday night.

After he started every game last season at free safety, the 49ers welcomed him back on a one-year deal worth up to $2.9 million, with $2.1 million guaranteed, according to multiple reports.

“If there’s anywhere I want to be, it’s San Francisco,” Gipson said as the 49ers cleaned out their locker room Jan. 31. “You get to the age where you don’t want to be the new kid at school. You start laying your roots.”

Gipson, 32, made for a stellar complement to fellow safety Talanoa Hufanga, who made All-Pro and the Pro Bowl in his second season. Ward and Tarvarius Moore remain slated for free agency, with contract negotiations opening at 1 p.m. Monday and signings elsewhere starting on Wednesday.

Gipson’s return further decreases the likelihood of Jimmie Ward coming back for a 10th season. Ward’s hamstring injury in August camp opened the door for Gipson to take over the starting role at free safety, and although Ward fared well at nickel back the second half of the season, it wasn’t his ideal spot.

Gipson, meanwhile, saw the 49ers as an oasis to a career that previously played with the Cleveland Browns, the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Houston Texans and the Chicago Bears. His one-year deal Sunday was first reported by Ari Meirov of The33rdTeam.com.

“I played for my fair share of teams, but a place like this is where a guy like me, they gave me this opportunity and I would like to stay here,” Gipson said on Jan. 31. “Obviously it’s super premature, but with the love that I have here, the energy where I showed what I can do and the respect I have for this locker room and I’ve earned, I’d like to be back.”

Of Gipson’s five interceptions, four came in the final five games, but none in the 49ers’ three playoff games.