Rashard Higgins Leaving 2019 In Past; In Best Position With Cleveland Browns

Rashard Higgins had a forgettable 2019 season with the Cleveland Browns, but he opted to re-sign with the team anyway, even reportedly forgoing higher offers to stay. Higgins suffered a knee injury that cost him six games last year and then had a falling out with the previous regime, who made it clear he wasn't a part of where they were going. Higgins wanted to leave last season in the past when he was a guest on 92.3 The Fan's show Bull and Fox.

#Browns WR Rashard Higgins on @BullandFox: "A lot of stuff happened last year that I just want to leave in last year. I just want to focus on the positivity going forward. A lot of stuff that happened last year we're not going to speak on. We're just going to keep moving forward"
— Keith Britton (@KeithBritton86) May 4, 2020

Higgins is not entirely without blame as he handled his injury situation poorly. In a media availability, Higgins told media members that he was ready to go and wasn't sure why he wasn't active for a particular game.

That statement was strongly contradicted by head coach Freddie Kitchens, who insisted that Higgins was not healthy and knew he wasn't able to play that particular week. After that, Higgins was largely almost non-existent as a factor with the team, despite being active during games.

So Higgins is taking the high road to avoid getting back into that, but the handling of Higgins among other players by the Browns previous regime was divisive and problematic. Then general manager John Dorsey played favorites and extended players that he chose multiple chances to play and start despite being unprepared or unreliable.

Meanwhile, players like Higgins were left by the wayside. Kitchens didn't really fight for those players, going with Dorsey's wishes and leaving players like Higgins out of their gameplans. It's safe to say that had Dorsey and Kitchens remained in place for 2020, Higgins would not be back with the Browns. He wouldn't want to be on the Browns and they wouldn't have even called him.

The same likely would've been the case with David Njoku. Andrew Berry, the general manager of the team, who was integral in the process of selecting both in the NFL Draft process, brought Higgins back and picked up Njoku's fifth year option as an almost direct rebuke to Dorsey and Kitchens.

Higgins is focusing on this year, trying to be positive and focusing on what's important. Now.

#Browns fans will want to hear WR @CALLME_WOOD: "I'm just going in with a different mentality. A mentality, I only got one more chance. That's how I'm looking at it. You only get one more chance. This is the chance, make the most of it. That's how I'm looking at things now." https://t.co/AMbxwZrutL
— Keith Britton (@KeithBritton86) May 4, 2020