Cincinnati Bengals backup quarterback AJ McCarron was nearly traded to the Cleveland Browns at the deadline. Thanks to some ineptness by the Browns, he remained with the Bengals. Now, however, he has reportedly filed a grievance against Cincinnati, in the hopes it will result in him becoming an unrestricted free-agent at the season's end.

This was reported by ESPN's Schefter. Per his report:

McCarron has filed a grievance against the Bengals and is awaiting a ruling from an arbitrator that will determine whether he is an unrestricted or restricted free agent after this season, sources tell ESPN.

The ruling in the case, expected sometime this winter, could determine whether the Browns are able to sign McCarron to a potentially lucrative contract without any compensation to Cincinnati or whether Cleveland would have to trade for his rights.

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Also according to Schefter, people in the know have told him that it is expected that the Bengals will put a first-round tender on the backup QB.

For what it is worth, this grievance has nothing to do with the botched trade. Instead, it is about Cincy putting him on the NFI list, while AJ McCarron claims he was healthy enough not to be on it. Since NFL rules are weird, by the franchise putting him on it, it prevented this season from counting against McCarron's rookie contract.

Obviously, this can have a large impact come this offseason. If McCarron is ruled an unrestricted free-agent, not only would he likely get paid hug sums of money, but it could result in another team believing they found its QB of the future in the Bengals backup.