Higgins signed a one-day contract with the Browns on Tuesday to retire as a member of the team, Chris Easterling of the Akron Beacon Journal reports.
Higgins entered the league as a 2016 fifth-round pick, playing the first six seasons of his career with Cleveland before a three-game stint with the Panthers back in 2022. With the Browns, Higgins totaled 137 catches for 1,890 yards and 12 touchdowns across 82 games.
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Panthers' Rashard Higgins: Healthy scratch Sunday
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Higgins (coach's decision) is inactive Sunday against the Buccaneers.
Higgins hasn't played since Week 6 against the Rams, so there isn't much surprise here. He'll work in practice this upcoming week to earn an opportunity to suit up Week 18 against the Saints.
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Panthers' Rashard Higgins: Sitting out again Week 14
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Higgins (coach's decision) is a healthy inactive for Sunday's game against the Seahawks, Darin Gantt of the Panthers' official site reports.
Higgins hasn't taken a snap since Week 6 and will remain out of the mix while the Panthers keep four other receivers active ahead of him.
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Panthers' Rashard Higgins: Healthy scratch Sunday
Rotowire
Higgins (coach's decision) is inactive Sunday against the Ravens.
Higgins was dealing with an illness, which has forced him to miss multiple games, but he was back to a full participant in practice this week. The veteran receiver will work to be active Week 12 against the Broncos.
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Panthers' Rashard Higgins: Avoids injury report
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Higgins (illness) was a full participant in Wednesday's practice.
Higgins is not listed on Carolina's injury report to begin the week, a signal that he is ready to return after a two-game absence due to illness. However, Higgins was a healthy scratch prior to dealing with any ailments, so he may still end up inactive versus the Ravens on Sunday.
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Panthers' Rashard Higgins: Will miss second straight game
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Higgins (illness) has been ruled out for Thursday's matchup against Atlanta, David Newton of ESPN.com reports.
Higgins will miss a second straight game due to an illness. Prior to the aliment, the wideout was a healthy scratch, so his prolonged absence hasn't had a significant impact on Carolina's offense.
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Panthers' Rashard Higgins: Out with illness
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Higgins (illness) has been ruled out for Sunday's Week 9 matchup with the Bengals.
Higgins will be unavailable for Week 9 after picking up an illness this week. The wide receiver was a healthy scratch in Week 8, making his absence Sunday mostly irrelevant to the team's game plan.
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Panthers' Rashard Higgins: Healthy scratch Sunday
Rotowire
Higgins (coach's decision) is inactive Sunday against the Falcons, David Newton of ESPN.com reports.
Higgins hasn't seen his role change despite the trade of Robbie Anderson to the cardinals. The veteran receiver will work to earn the chance to play in Week 9 against the Bengals.
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Panthers' Rashard Higgins: Healthy scratch in Week 5
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Higgins (coach's decision) is inactive for Sunday's Week 5 clash against the 49ers, Steve Reed of The Associated Press reports.
The veteran wideout was active last week yet never logged a snap despite the absence of Laviska Shenault (hamstring). Despite the latter remaining out Sunday, Higgins is assured of not seeing any action for the second straight game. Higgins' inactive status Sunday should bump Terrace Marshall up to the No. 4 wideout role against San Francisco.
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Panthers' Rashard Higgins: No snaps Sunday
Rotowire
Higgins was active but did not play a single snap in Sunday's 26-24 loss to the Browns.
Higgins was anticipated to serve as Carolina's third or fourth wideout against his former team, but with both him and Terrace Marshall curiously being stuck on the sidelines all game, Shi Smith took on that complementary role. Ahead of Week 2's matchup versus the Giants, it'll be interesting to hear an explanation for Higgins' lack of involvement, but it certainly didn't offer an encouraging start to his time with the Panthers.
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Panthers' Rashard Higgins: No catches in preseason finale
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Higgins didn't catch his only target in Friday's 21-0 preseason win over the Bills.
Higgins saw Shi Smith start ahead of him alongside DJ Moore and Terrace Marshall. While Smith finished with three catches for 32 yards and a touchdown in 22 snaps, Higgins couldn't get onto the stat sheet in 25 snaps. As the preseason now concludes, it'll be interesting to see how Higgins and Smith are incorporated behind Moore, Robbie Anderson and Marshall in Carolina's first-team offense.
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Panthers' Rashard Higgins: Makes two grabs
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Higgins caught two of three targets for 11 yards in Friday's 20-10 preseason loss to the Patriots.
Higgins started with fellow wideouts DJ Moore (shoulder), Robbie Anderson (quadriceps) and Terrace Marshall (hamstring) sitting out. Although Carolina's passing game wasn't able to do much, Higgins' involvement enabled him further opportunities to get live reps within a new scheme. After coming over from the Browns this offseason, Higgins has impressed with his veteran reliability, Augusta Stone of the team's official site reports. Given his familiarity from playing with quarterback Baker Mayfield in Cleveland and the aforementioned injuries currently nagging Carolina's receiving corps, Higgins' stock as a depth option is trending up at the moment.
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Panthers' Rashard Higgins: Scores to start preseason
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Higgins caught all three of his targets for 22 yards and a touchdown in Saturday's 23-21 preseason win over the Commanders.
Higgins scored Carolina's first touchdown by hauling in an eight-yard pass from Sam Darnold, who entered the game behind Baker Mayfield at quarterback. With top wideout DJ Moore sitting out with a sore shoulder, Higgins played the entire first half. In finding the end zone, he did well in his quest to carve out a significant role behind starters Moore and Robbie Anderson, with second-year wideout Terrace Marshall (lower leg) missing a chance to distinguish himself Saturday while sidelined.
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Panthers' Rashard Higgins: Reunited with Mayfield in Carolina
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Higgins' familiarity with new Panthers quarterback Baker Mayfield could benefit his chances of carving out a meaningful role, Joseph Person of The Atlantic reports.
Higgins has played alongside Mayfield for each of the quarterback's four NFL seasons. He posted a career-high 599 yards and four touchdowns for the Browns in 2020 and will hope to reignite such chemistry with Mayfield now that the signal-caller has been traded to the Panthers. Although Sam Darnold will also be competing for Carolina's starting quarterback job, Higgins' experience with Mayfield should offer him comfort as he strives to push Terrace Marshall for the team's third-wideout role.
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Panthers' Rashard Higgins: Joining Panthers
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Higgins agreed to a one-year deal with the Panthers on Wednesday, Jake Trotter of ESPN.com reports.
Higgins is coming off a 2021 campaign in which he caught 24 passes (on 47 targets) for 275 yards and a touchdown in 15 games for Cleveland. With the Panthers, the 27-year-old will look to secure the team's No. 3 wideout gig behind DJ Moore and Robby Anderson, a role that carries modest fantasy upside.
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Browns' Rashard Higgins: Not expected back
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Higgins (illness) will not be re-signed by the Browns when he hits free agency, Jeff Howe and Zac Jackson of The Athletic report.
Higgins, who sat out the final game of the season with an illness, had an uptick in usage over the final stretch of the season, but the Browns will not re-sign him for a third consecutive year. After a down season for the team's passing offense, Cleveland's decision-makers plan to revamp the receiving corps surrounding quarterback Baker Mayfield, including the possibility of parting with wide receiver Jarvis Landry. The Browns are assessing several free-agent and trade options outside the organization.
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Browns' Rashard Higgins: Won't return Sunday
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Higgins (illness) will not return Sunday against the Bengals, Scott Petrak of the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram reports.
Higgins was active, but he never took the field Sunday. Anthony Schwartz and Ja'Marcus Bradley should continue to see extra snaps for the remainder of the game.
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Browns' Rashard Higgins: Remains involved
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Higgins caught one of five targets for eight yards in Monday's 26-14 loss to Pittsburgh.
Higgins' late-season revival continued, as the wide receiver has been targeted at least five times in each of the last three games. The poor catch rate Monday was more about beleaguered quarterback Baker Mayfield, who was inaccurate and hounded by the Steelers' defense, which had nine sacks and hit the QB another 11 times. It's unclear how the Browns will operate in their final game of the regular season next week against Cincinnati. There could be value in giving rookie Anthony Schwartz a greater role at the expense of Higgins, who becomes an unrestricted free agent in 2022.
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Browns' Rashard Higgins: Paces receivers in loss
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Higgins caught five of six targets for 58 yards in Week 16's 24-22 loss to Green Bay on Saturday.
Higgins led all of Cleveland players in receiving yards and was heavily involved in the passing attack for the second consecutive week. He had a 65 percent share of the snaps, behind Jarvis Landry and Donovan Peoples-Jones, and for the second straight week out-snapped rookie Anthony Schwartz. It was unclear if Higgins involvement in Week 15 was the result of a COVID-19 outbreak among the team's receiving options (wideouts and tight ends), but it appears he's reclaimed a role for himself. He's caught eight of 11 targets for 82 yards over the last two games.
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Browns' Rashard Higgins: Browns-Raiders moved to Monday
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Higgins and the Browns will no longer play the Raiders on Saturday, after the NFL officially rescheduled the matchup between the two teams for Monday at 5 p.m. ET.
Due to ongoing COVID-19-related issues within the Cleveland organization, the NFL is hopeful that by delaying the game two days, the Browns will restore enough players from the reserve/COVID-19 list to alleviate depth concerns on the roster. Donovan Peoples-Jones, Higgins and Ja'Marcus Bradley are currently the top three available receivers on the roster heading into the Week 15 matchup, but all would be pushed down a spot in the pecking order if Jarvis Landry (illness) is able to clear all COVID-19-related protocols before Monday.
