5 under the radar free agent wide receivers the Detroit Lions could target

3. Rashard Higgins

As the Browns eye wide receivers via free agency or the draft, Higgins looks sure to be gone and Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com has confirmed that sentiment.

"Higgins has had nine lives since being drafted in 2016 by the Browns out of Colorado State, but his career here has come to an end, a league source tells cleveland.com. Higgins’ agents will meet with the team Thursday, but it’s expected that the two sides will agree to part ways and he’ll hit the free agent market. It was a down year for Higgins, with the low point coming Nov. 28 when he was a healthy scratch for the Ravens game. In a season when Baker Mayfield struggled, it seemed odd the Browns didn’t use one of his favorites more, but something was obviously off."

Higgins averaged 16.2 yards per catch in 2020, coincidentally a pretty good season for Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield, but he fell off again last season. He has yet to put it all together as a pro, but the flashes he’s shown have at times been enough to suggest he’s got a lot of ability. He won’t be a star with a change of scenery, but he clearly needs one and the Browns will not put up any resistance.

Higgins would likely have a role similar to the one Josh Reynolds filled when he came aboard off waivers last season, so any interest the Lions would have would probably come with the idea Reynolds is lined up to leave. But as cheap flier almost regardless of Reynolds’ status, Higgins may make some sense.