Browns: Rashard Higgins turned down nearly twice the money to stay

The Cleveland Browns knew Rashard Higgins was going to warrant close to $5 million on the open market. The talk around the town was that Higgins wasn’t going to be a Brown in 2021. Yet, Higgins shocked a lot of people by returning to Cleveland. The shock came due to many people like Mary-Kay Cabot referencing online sites that track player values, and the consensus was that he’d get somewhere around $4-5 million.

The Browns weren’t offering that much, ergo Higgins was all but gone.

So when he returned to Cleveland on a one-year, $2.38 million contract, many laughed and shouted “I told you so!”, that Higgins wasn’t worth $4-5 million.

Except he was, and he was even offered close to twice what the Browns paid him.

During a Zoom interview, Higgins explained his thought process and just how much more he was offered by other teams. (Via BrownsWire)

"It’s just like going to another team, how does that really benefit me? Obviously, for the money, you can say that, but the cap is down. To go somewhere for another million or another two million, then you start over with a whole other quarterback and then you start over with a whole new playbook. It’s just like ‘what in another team would you be looking for?’….I believe they gave me a little bit more in signing bonus so that was sweet. I definitely had other offers on the table, but this was one that was a no-brainer.…Obviously, a goal for me is to get paid, and that’s the reason that we do play the game is because we love it, we want to get paid and take care of our family. If I have to do what I did to do it even better, why not bet on myself again? I’m willing to bet on myself every time if I have to. The cap is going up next year, better TV, more market. It will be way better next year so we will see around this time next year where we stand.”"

Reading his words, you know there are three things to take away from this.

He has deeper desires than just getting paid.

Some people don’t seem to get this. They think uprooting everything, moving, and starting over is so easy. A lot of people stay where they are, however, because of the comfort and safety that familiarity brings. Clearly, Higgins is comfortable in Cleveland and that goes along way.

He wants to earn a bigger contract…in Cleveland.

He wants to get paid, but he wants to play in Cleveland with Baker Mayfield, the two have an undeniable bond, and they play well together. He’s clearly hoping that the market bounces back for him and can re-sign with Cleveland again.

He’s not afraid to gamble on himself

Guys like him are a special breed of person. They aren’t afraid to fail and are willing to go all out to achieve their dreams. Higgins may not be an elite wide receiver but he’s a guy who could be invaluable to the team going forward.