{"id":781003,"date":"2026-02-28T00:18:20","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T00:18:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/781003\/"},"modified":"2026-02-28T00:18:20","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T00:18:20","slug":"nfl-free-agency-browns-encouraged-to-sign-playoff-star-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/781003\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL free agency: Browns encouraged to sign playoff star"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">With the 2026 NFL combine in full swing, the 2026 NFL draft is right now the focal point of the NFL offseason. For the Cleveland Browns, the offensive line needs to be fixed, while the options to add to the quarterback room are quite limited. The other area that has gotten a lot of attention has been the Browns receiver room.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/story\/_\/id\/48017346\/2026-nfl-offseason-one-free-agent-signing-every-team#CLE\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">ESPN\u2019s Aaron Schatz<\/a> (someone I shared dinner with at the NFL combine this week) has encouraged Berry to bring WR\/KR Rashid Shaheed to Cleveland this offseason:<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup _1teeyfa8 ls9zuh1\">There\u2019s more to the return game than just having a fast return man. The blocking matters. Still, the addition of Shaheed would be a big step forward for a Browns special teams unit that I had ranked 32nd on punt return value and 28th on kick return value through my <a href=\"https:\/\/ftnfantasy.com\/nfl\/dvoa-explainer#h-special-teams-dvoa-explained-23319\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">special teams DVOA<\/a> (defense-adjusted value over average) in 2025.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup _1teeyfa8 ls9zuh1\">Shaheed would also be a strong downfield receiver for a unit that desperately needs improvement. Last season, starting for the Saints <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/story\/_\/id\/46847556\/source-saints-deal-rashid-shaheed-seahawks-nfl-trade-deadline\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">and then<\/a> the reigning Super Bowl champions, he had seven games (including playoffs) with at least 50 receiving yards. No Browns receiver eclipsed Shaheed\u2019s 687 receiving yards in 2025.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">In four years in the NFL, Shaheed has caught 153 passes for 2,243 yards and 12 touchdowns. He has also returned four kicks, including three punts, for touchdowns. He had a punt return in the middle of December:<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Then, opening Seattle\u2019s playoff game with San Francisco by returning the kickoff for a touchdown:<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">For Cleveland, Shaheed won\u2019t fill the top receiver need that they have, but would be a useful piece who can make players in the return game as well. Given the amount of cap space available and needs around the NFL, as well as Shaheed\u2019s exciting highlights, it is possible that the former undrafted free agent could exceed most contract projections.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">How would you feel about the Browns spending on Shaheed in NFL free agency?<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Share your thoughts in our comment section below<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With the 2026 NFL combine in full swing, the 2026 NFL draft is right now the focal point&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":781004,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2026],"tags":[3295,7],"class_list":{"0":"post-781003","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-cleveland-browns-free-agency","9":"tag-football"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116145390426767058","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/781003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=781003"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/781003\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/781004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=781003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=781003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=781003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}