Cleveland Browns: Rashard Higgins stays loyal to his word with team-friendly deal

Rashard Higgins said he wanted to stay with the Cleveland Browns, and his latest contract proves that wasn’t just talk

Rashard Higgins is many things for the Cleveland Browns, but a liar is not one of them.

Higgins, 26, inked a one-year deal worth just over $2 million on Wednesday night to return to the Browns.

“Tell Andrew to send the papers, and I’ll sign where I need to sign,” Higgins said in a radio interview on 850 WKNR ESPN Cleveland at the end of February.

And he did just that.

The fan-favorite receiver displayed his unexplainable connection with quarterback Baker Mayfield during his first year with Kevin Stefanski, catching 37 balls for 599 yards and four touchdowns. Despite having a career-best year receiving, Higgins took another one-year discount to remain with Mayfield in Cleveland.

"“We really like Rashard. Everyone knows that,” GM Andrew Berry said in an early-March interview. “There are a ton of Rashard Higgins fans in the building, and I am one of them.”"

The Browns have made a few defensive splashes in free agency by signing former Los Angeles Rams safety John Johnson III and former Atlanta Falcons edge Takk McKinley. Reports also indicate that the team intends to bring back linebacker Malcolm Smith who proved to be a savvy signing late in the summer of 2020. Despite these moves in the first three days, Berry proved he truly believes in Higgins and what he provides to the offense.

With big-name free agents like Kenny Golladay, JuJu Smith-Schuester, and Will Fuller still available, Higgins could have easily sat on his hands and waited for the wide receiver market to materialize.

Instead, Higgins stayed true to his word and signed the papers for his new contract when Berry sent them over, just as he said he would.

And the fact that he signed such a team-friendly deal proves that he’s as big of a part of the culture change in Cleveland as anyone.