Rashard Higgins of the Browns celebrates a play in the third quarter against the Atlanta Falcons on Nov. 11. (Jason Miller, Getty Images)

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The Browns have two important wide receiver decisions to make this off-season. They both hinge on two players who made an impact on the 2018 roster: Breshad Perriman and Rashard Higgins.

While Perriman seems bound to test free agency as an unrestricted free agent, Higgins is the name the Browns have the ability to control.

John Dorsey officially placed a tender on Higgins, reportedly getting a fifth-round selection back if someone else signs him. That seems a low price considering what is a shaky wide receiver group in free agency.

The Browns have received great value for the fifth-round pick out of Colorado State. They have the ability to match any offer made to Higgins through restricted free agency. They would be wise to do so within reason.

Higgins' immediate future is likely in Cleveland, but the Browns would be wise to ensure he stays long-term in Cleveland with Baker Mayfield.

Let's take a look at how the young receiver's game evolved in 2018 as he turned himself into the Browns' most valuable player at the position.

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MIDDLE-OF-THE-FIELD USAGE

Higgins spends a majority of his time aligned at Z (usually the flanker in NFL offenses -- off the ball to the strength of the formation). He spent a majority of his time aligned outside with 351 snaps wide, When aligned outside, the Browns loved to cut his splits down and bunch his alignment. This gave Higgins a two-way go that put defenders in a tough position.

Higgins has the ability to align in the slot as well. He had 125 snaps inside in 2018.

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We saw a flash late in 2017 as he worked this quick slant from the slot for a 56-yard touchdown, outrunning coverage at both levels. The footwork off the break is what draws the attention here. Reaching the top of his break, he uses the hesitation and sharp outside foot cut to create separation.

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Higgins did some fantastic work on what are called dig routes, deeper inward breaking routes that require sharp footwork, selling angles, and catching the ball in traffic. In the three examples above, Higgins does well to create immediate separation through his work off the ball, quickly come out of the top of his route, and then finishes with catches in traffic that are no easy feat.

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From the earlier comment, we get the picture of Higgins in the bunch alignment here. What he does so well is create the necessary angle to stack the defender as he stems outside. That creates a two-way go, and Higgins breaks this one off into a post route in the Mills concept for an easy throw and touchdown. This type of route is challenging from a tight alignment, but he creates the separation and turns the defender with relative ease, and against the league's No. 1 defense.

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A display of athleticism here as Higgins takes the shallow for a touchdown across the field. He erases angles well, and shows why his yards-after-catch ability has only improved through his career.

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Similar concept here as Higgins is bunched in trips set, but instead of running the cross he turns it into a whip route. He fires the feet and gets in and out of his cut to get the separation for yards after catch and a key first down.

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Higgins found success on the outward breaking routes as well. Again from the bunched alignment he wins a tight window on the corner route and makes a tough sideline catch against tight coverage on him the second he gets his hands on the ball.

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Again aligned tight, watch the little things here. Higgins stems outside first and works his route downfield hard to sell an inward breaking cut. When he stacks the corner's toes, he gets him to flip the hips inside, and from there it's over. Sharp footwork to get on the out route and an easy throw for a 20-yard gain.

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THE SCRAMBLE DRILL

This is not often discussed, but the ability to get open in scrambling situations is vastly underrated for receivers. The idea is that as a receiver runs a route, he notices the quarterback is forced to scramble and he has to break off his route.

Short routes turn up-field, and longer routes work back to the quarterback.

Now, it doesn't always work out perfectly and often times it just takes the innate ability to find your quarterback's vision and sit in, or run to, an open spot in coverage. Higgins displayed this skill often in 2018, and it meshed perfectly with Mayfield.

Mayfield and Higgins displayed a keen ability to work together, as the young quarterback would slide out of the pocket when necessary and throw accurately down the field.

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This is off one of the Browns' favorite play-action schemes. Mayfield is forced out of the pocket to his right by Atlanta's Grady Jarrett before he could find Jarvis Landry on the backside drag/seam. When Higgins notices it, he breaks off his divide route to his right to get into Mayfield's line of sight and goes up and gets this touchdown ball.

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The Browns run a four-vertical concept here, and Higgins feels the coverage bubble between the flat defender and deep safety. He settles in the back corner of the end zone, the natural soft spot. Mayfield works out of the pocket to his right and notices Higgins sitting it down in the corner, and the two connect for a touchdown.

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A great example of shallow to deep here. Higgins is on the settle route from the empty set (five wide receivers). His task is sitting around seven yards over the ball for his quarterback, but when he feels Mayfield stepping up to escape, he turns upfield from short to deep and works to his right to find the void for Mayfield to drop this one in with touch.

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This one is complete chaos, but you can get a feel for his awareness in these situations. Higgins is running a vertical route on the opposite sideline way from where Mayfield scrambles out of the pocket. He notices it as many other receivers don't and works all the way to the opposite hash to make this jump ball catch and get the Browns in field-goal position before half.

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BACK-SHOULDER THROWS

One of the more difficult completions to make are the back-shoulder throws on fade routes. It takes excellent feel from both the quarterback and the wide receiver. If the ball is thrown too far upfield, it's a liability. If the receiver turns too quick, the defender has a chance to sniff it out and make the easy interception.

It takes impeccable timing and excellent hip fluidity, two characteristics Higgins has in his collection of skills.

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Higgins flashed this ability with both Tyrod Taylor and Mayfield in the preseason. Here, Taylor gives Higgins this ball against press coverage on third and short. Watch as Higgins flips the hips at the last second and his defender goes screaming past. The threat of running past the corner makes this type of play easier. Higgins can do both.

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We get the full package here. As Mayfield eludes a sack to his left, he rolls out and in the scramble drill it sends Higgins upfield as he does what he should do: short to long. But then we see just how connected he was to his quarterback, as the two developed chemistry all year long. Mayfield double pumps and throws a back-shoulder ball that Higgins feels coming. He is able to flip the hips yet keep his feet in for a clutch catch in a key moment.

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A display of athleticism here as Higgins uses the back shoulder route, but he flashes the vertical and high-point ability in a time of need to bring this ball in. Concentration was high here bringing it down off the initial bobble.

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Although this is not a back-shoulder here, we see Higgins run the corner stop against zone. What stands out here is his ability to go get this ball high, and have the grip strength to maintain the ball through contact.

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FINAL THOUGHTS

Higgins broke out in year three, in large part to his improved attention to detail at his position, and aligning with a stellar quarterback in Mayfield.

In Higgins' first two years, he had 33 total catches for 389 yards and two touchdowns. In year three he shattered those numbers in just 13 games. Despite only three more targets than the year before, Higgins reeled in 39 catches for 572 yards and four touchdowns.

The linear improvement is a welcome sight for the Browns. Higgins contributed heavily despite limited opportunities. Higgins was fifth in targets, yet averaged a whopping 14.7 yards per reception. His 73.6 percent catch rate led the receiver group by a wide margin.

According to Football Outsiders' DVOA ranking, Higgins finished 11th overall in the entire NFL. The metric measures the value of the performance on plays where this receiver caught the ball, compared to replacement level.

Higgins ranked 14th in the AFC with 27 of his 39 catches going for first downs -- 69.2 percent. Also, he ranked sixth in the entire NFL in first-down receptions per target at 50.9 percent (27-of-53). He also came down with five catches for first downs on snaps of third and 7 or longer -- one less than Jarvis Landry, who had nearly triple the total targets.

Higgins played only 483 snaps while Antonio Callaway played 765 and Landry 957. Now, some of this is due to injury, but he was outpaced by receivers who did less with more opportunities. Those numbers are not to diminish the other options within the offense, but rather to show what kind of consistency Higgins brings. He maximizes his opportunities. When Higgins gets the ball, good things happen.

The Browns would be wise to offer Higgins a four-year deal in the mold of around $7 million annually. That puts him toward the middle of the pack in the league, but is a nice pay increase from what the tender would give him.

Perhaps the Browns decide to wait another year to see the young receiver prove it again, but with several massive contracts coming over the next few years, getting out in front of your most efficient receiver's contract could be wise.

The early deal could save the Browns a few key millions in cap space when the time comes for keeping the young core intact.

Regardless, Higgins hopefully remains as a member of the Cleveland Browns for the short term, and that is only going to mean positive things for the offense.