The Browns did not use a franchise or transition tag to prevent free safety Tashaun Gipson or one of their other key impending free agents from hitting the open market next week.
The deadline for NFL teams to employ a tag passed at 4 p.m. Tuesday.
Last week at the NFL Scouting Combine, Browns head of football operations Sashi Brown said he didn’t expect the organization to use a tag, even though he mentioned Gipson, a Pro Bowl selection in 2014, as a candidate.
“We don’t expect [to use a tag],” Brown said. “We know those are kind of tools in the toolbox here, but we don’t expect to do that.