AJ McCarron will be an unrestricted free agent next month after an arbiter ruled Thursday in favor of the Cincinnati Bengals quarterback, who filed a grievance about his status in November, a source told ESPN's Adam Schefter.
McCarron, 27, filed a grievance against the Bengals last year, arguing that the Bengals should have activated him from the non-football (NFI) injury list during training camp in 2014, his rookie season. Instead, the Bengals kept him on the NFI list with a shoulder injury and didn't activate him until Dec. 9 and he wasn't credited for service time needed for an accrued season (six regular-season games are needed).