Cleveland Browns: All aboard the Rashard Higgins hype train

The Cleveland Browns added a ton of talent this offseason, including Odell Beckham Jr., but do not sleep on Rashard Higgins in his contract year.

A fifth-round pick of former Cleveland Browns general manager Sashi Brown, cut and added to the practice squad in his second year under head coach Hue Jackson and the favorite target of Baker Mayfield in his third season, Rashard Higgins has been on quite the roller coaster throughout his career. But the train is just getting started; it is time to hop on the Higgins hype train or get left at the station.

The fourth-year receiver signed his restricted free agent tender this offseason, bringing him back to Cleveland for one more year. He will now enter 2019 in his contract year with a big chance to see a massive payday in free agency next offseason.

Higgins joins linebacker Joe Schobert, center J.C. Tretter and safety Damarious Randall as important Browns in need of a new contract after this upcoming season. All four are important pieces, but if the Browns were smart, retaining Mayfield’s favorite target as well as the quarterback of their defense, Schobert, should be their top priorities.

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While Higgins has less than 1,000 yards and only six scores to his career at this point, 2019 will be his breakout year and will take over for a certain $15 million man moving forward. In 2018, Higgins tallied 39 catches for 572 yards and four touchdowns in just 13 games on a limited 53 targets.

Should Higgins avoid an injury in 2019, he will be looking 1,000 yards and a chance at double-digit touchdown catches from Mayfield (again, his favorite target) in the face. While Odell Beckham Jr. joins the room already consisting of Higgins, Jarvis Landry, and Antonio Callaway, he will still have a chance to stand out.

OBJ will receive so much attention (and still post gaudy numbers), Landry cannot separate outside the numbers and will be relegated to the slot, and Callaway will be unleashed as the deep threat. This leaves Higgins as the secondary target outside the numbers in the short to medium range for Mayfield after Beckham Jr.

The Browns have a lot of talent to spread the ball around to in 2019, but Higgins will have his fair share of options should he stay healthy and on the field. The train is leaving the station, it is time to jump on the Higgins hype train before it is too late.