Higgins on choice to stay: ‘Why not be a Cleveland Brown?’
Rashard Higgins’ nickname is “Hollywood,” but he remains all about Cleveland.
Although the popular wide receiver had other suitors in free agency, he simply didn’t want to leave the Browns.
“I knew where I wanted to be,” Higgins said Friday, speaking via Zoom from his car outside Browns headquarters in Berea. “It was obviously a lot of teams hitting on me, and I had decisions, but why not be a Cleveland Brown? I feel like all the pieces to the puzzle are in place.
“Going to another team, how is that really benefiting me? Obviously, for the money, you can say that, but the [salary] cap is down [due to the pandemic]. To go somewhere for another million or another two million, then you start over with a whole other quarterback, then you start over with a whole new playbook, and it’s just like what in another team would you be looking for? We just made a playoff run. We’ve got everything that I need here as a Cleveland Brown.”
The third-longest tenured member of the Browns, Higgins reached an agreement
March 17 to re-sign with the club on a one-year, $2.38 million contract.
Higgins consulted quarterback Baker Mayfield about his future for the second consecutive offseason. Higgins also signed a one-year, $910,000 contract with the Browns in 2020 about six weeks after he became a free agent. This time around, Higgins had a deal in place two days after the negotiating period began and just hours after free agency officially kicked off.
“I was telling [Mayfield] every team that was hitting on me,” Higgins said. “I was telling him, ‘What you think about this?’ Baker’s always going to be there for me. But at the end of the day, when I did weigh my options, it only made sense. So here I am. I’m a Cleveland Brown, and I’m looking to run this thing back.”
Higgins was involved in the play that could have changed the playoffs.
In a 22-17 loss to the eventual AFC champion Kansas City Chiefs on Jan. 17 in the divisional round of the playoffs, the Browns were trailing 16-3 late in the first half when Higgins caught a pass from Mayfield for what nearly became a 26-yard touchdown but instead ended up being a 25-yard gain.
While Higgins dived for the right pylon with the ball extended, safety Daniel Sorensen drilled him at the 1 with a helmet-to-helmet hit. Higgins fumbled through the end zone and out of bounds for a touchback with 1:34 left in the second quarter. If Higgins had fumbled out of bounds anywhere but the end zone, the Browns would have kept possession.
“Obviously, I think the [touchback] rule should be looked at,” Higgins said. “That was a huge turning point of the game. I still felt like we had a chance, though, there at the end. But looking back at things, I was just trying to spark something for the team. I felt like we needed a spark, and it was just a football play.”
No penalty was called on Sorensen, even though CBS rules analyst and former NFL referee Gene Steratore said on the telecast he thought the defender should have been flagged for illegal use of the helmet. The NFL didn’t fine Sorensen, either.
The play was reviewed because it resulted in a turnover, and the crucial touchback stood after the officials checked the replay. A penalty for a helmet-to-helmet blow can’t be called retroactively through replay.
Confidence in head coach Kevin Stefanski also led Higgins back to the Browns, he says. Stefanski led the Browns to the playoffs for the first time since 2002. Then they earned their first postseason victory since Jan. 1, 1995, with a 48-37 wildcard triumph over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Jan. 10 before being eliminated by the Chiefs.
“We’ve got a coach that’s here to stay — the coach of the year,,” said Higgins. “Just knowing Coach Stefanski and believing in him and his group and making a playoff run his first year here, that’s historic.”